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Guyana Consulate says goodbye to High Commissioner Nawbatt

Guyana Consulate says goodbye to High Commissioner Nawbatt

B y R avend R a M adholall

TORONTO, CANADA:

At a specially arranged function hosted by Guyana Consulate in Toronto to say farewell to Guyana’s High Commissioner to Canada, Harry Narine Nawbatt, Consul General the Honourable Sattie Sawh, expressed great delight to work alongside him.

The farewell dinner was held last Friday night at Delta Hotel in Scarborough and Nawbatt who spent four consecutive years at the office which is based in Ottawa, demitted office with immediate effect.

“I want to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the guidance/friendship he provided to all of us during his tenure in Canada,” Sawh stated.

Nawbatt, who was the High Commissioner in Brazil, replaced Rajnarine Singh in 2010 and is set to return to his country of birth. He too was very appreciative of the night’s proceedings and was very satisfied with his tenure.

“Tonight, I [am] very satisfied with this special farewell by my fellow colleagues

in Canada; I think I fulfilled my duties as a High Commissioner of Guyana in Canada; I thoroughly enjoyed the job and special thanks to all who have supported me in various ways,” Nawbatt mentioned.

Nawbatt who is married, a father of three and University of Guyana graduate taught for three years at Annandale Primary School in Guyana before joining the public service.

The 68-year-old worked in the Deeds Registry, the Ministry of Finance, the Post Office Savings Bank, the Ministry of Works, the Office of the Auditor General and the defunct Guyana Airways and served as executive director of the Social Impact Amelioration Programme and project manager of the Poor Communities Support Services Project before becoming Minister of Transport & Hydraulics and later Minister of Housing & Water.

An accountant by profession, Nawbatt took up his first diplomatic assignment in Brazil, 2008.

Also in attendance at the gathering was former Consul General for Guyana Danny

Doobay, who echoed similar sentiments of Sawh and spoke largely about the quality of work Nawbatt had brought to the executive position.

“I must say a hearty congratulations to Nawbatt and his family for their splendid job; Nawbatt was very instrumental in highlighting Guyana’s tourism and was very cooperative in ensuring everything in his capacity was done; we wish him more success as he returns to his homeland,” Doobay declared.

Meanwhile, the Association of Concerned Guyanese also recognised the efforts of Nawbatt presenting a gift for his services. Vice-President of the Association, Mani Singh, thanked Nawbatt for his contributions he made during his High Commissioner portfolio and he will be remembered for his camaraderie and passion he always brings when on duty.

Several other speakers, including his friend Kim Sue, took to the floor to wish him all the best in his new endeavours.

A New High Commissioner for Guyana in Canada will be assumed soon.

US should pay

TT$12m extradition bill—Warner

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD:

Independent Liberal Party political leader Jack Warner is predicting that taxpayers will have to fork out more than TT$100 million in legal fees for his extradition matter, based on the initial TT$12 million legal bill submitted to government by State attorneys.

In an interview, Warner revealed that his private legal fees were less than TT$1 million. He expressed disgust that the Kamla PersadBissessar administration was paying exorbitant fees at taxpayers’ expense for a matter that the United States initiated against him.

“Imagine my matter has not yet started and they already paying $12 million.

Over TT$100 million will be paid by the State if we go by this

calculation. It is obscene, absurd and disgusting,” Warner said.

He said there was nothing in the extradition treaty signed between TT and the US which states that the monies will be reimbursed.

“This is a last attack on the Treasury before this government leaves office. This is an attack on taxpayers. They owe an explanation as to why so many attorneys were hired and why they are paying so much money in legal fees,” Warner said.

The 72-year-old former government minister is one of 14 people wanted by the US on allegations of bribery, money laundering, corruption and wire fraud conspiracy arising out of an investigation done by the US Department of Justice. He is currently on TT$2.5 million bail. The crimes are alleged to have occurred between 1990 and 2011.

Warner, who is contesting the Chaguanas East seat in next Monday’s general election, is expected to reappear in court on September 21. (TT Guardian)

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EDITORIAL

The Berbice Bridge: Life, liberty and property

When John Locke laid down the foundations of what is now the “liberal state”, he proposed that the right to “life, liberty and property” are sacrosanct against the depredations of the Leviathan when in control of men of narrow vision. Thomas Jefferson substituted “the pursuit of happiness” for “property” in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, not because he disagreed with Locke, but because he considered the two terms coterminous. How could one “pursue happiness” when mired in poverty?

From the 18th century to the present, if there has been one constant in the evolution of governance, it is this: when a government refuses to recognise the “right to property” as sacrosanct, that country will remain in the Hobbesian “state of nature where life is nasty, brutish and short”. The USSR and China both defined their governance structure as “communist” inspired, but the former is now a distant memory and the latter will become the largest economy on earth, because the latter gave due importance to the right to property.

The right to property is protected in the law of contracts – and for this reason, contracts have also become sacrosanct. One cannot breach the terms of a contract, without due process being applied in the courts that are mandated to be protect the rights of citizens and legal entities. In modern societies, the latter is epitomised by the “corporation” which is considered literally as a legal “body” with its own right and remedies. Because, usually there are a host of individuals and other entities that have interests in a particular corporation, a “Board of Directors” is constituted for every corporation to protect the former’s interest.

Boards are said to have “fiduciary responsibilities” to the shareholders and trustees of their corporations and failure to protect the latter’s interests can result in Directors being sued in their private capacities. The foregoing becomes relevant in light of the exchanges between the Directors of the Berbice Bridge Company Incorporated (BBCI) and the Government of Guyana (GoG) after the latter unilaterally announced a reduction of the tolls (property) of the Bridge the former entity operates.

Over a year ago, when the GoG was in Opposition but in control of the Assembly, they had passed a motion for such a reduction. But it appeared that good sense prevailed after they became the government when they quantified their reduction of tolls, announced it in their Budget, and engaged the Directors of the BBCI in negotiations. They then announced that they would subsidise the reduction of commuters’ lowered payments which would kick in as of tomorrow, Sept 1st. After extensive deliberations, the BBCI Board was forced to point out that they had never formally agreed to the government’s proposals which had repercussions of the stakeholders’ right to property that only they could approve.

And it is these repercussions that hark back to the sanctity of contracts and of property. The Berbice Bridge was built under the first Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement in Guyana. The Government of Guyana (“Public”) entered into a contract with equity and debt investors (“Private”) that promised a cash flow from tolls to cover operational costs and debt servicing. It is to be noted that shareholders only receive dividends when there are profits generated and in the case of the Berbice Bridge these were never paid.

As pointed out by the BBCI Directors, the cash flow from tolls at the present level would plunge the Bridge into bankruptcy unless they were raised to the levels requested since 2014 but not approved because of the intervening general elections exigencies. The government has unfortunately ignored the BBCI Directors duty to consult with their principals before their property (payments of debt) is destroyed (bankruptcy) and labelled it “delaying manoeuvres”.

The government would do well to accept the fundamental values of “life, liberty and property” and accept that a campaign promise does not constitute “force majeure” that allows them to unilaterally breach the terms of a contract.

Dear future media house

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD:

Anyone creating or moving a publication online quickly discovers the challenge is not journalism, it’s money. Peter Drucker’s axiom regarding business holds true. Many decades ago the famed management consultant opined: “The business of business is business.” And that business is lubricated by money, or, more accurately, profit.

Without profit, a business is a hobby, a doomed venture, a pie floating rather unrealistically in the sky. So there’s that immutable fact. And journalism of any kind cannot exist without income and serious journalism costs serious money.

I’ve had at least one media manager look me in the eye after I answered the question of what to do with their publication online in detail and depth and say with great gravity and unquestioned sincerity, “I can’t do that. I can’t risk the (significant six-figure income) that I get from advertising every day.”

I never discussed the matter again, but I never forgot the brusque seriousness on that manager’s face. It’s a rock and a hard place problem. How do you unhook your fortunes from a profitablyrunning engine to tie them to something that looks like it’s powered by a rubber band? There is growing momentum behind the idea that you can’t avoid the commitment, but it hasn’t become mortally pressing in TT just yet.

That buys media houses time, the most valuable asset you can hope for in any migration from atoms to bits. According to Alexa’s rankings of traffic (currently 30 days old), trinidadexpress.

com holds the top spot at 27,468 globally and is #11 in T&T. The guardian.co.tt is at 45,972, and #21 locally, while newsday.co.tt is at 64,814 and 31. Alexa only ranks the top 100,000 websites in the world, so showing up on the global list is a big deal.

The New York Times is at 110, the UK Guardian (theguardian.com) is at 140 while the more populist dailymail. co.uk is at 107. Any traditional media house is an aggregation of several components that are not unfamiliar to any business owner. You have staff, you have plant and you have a process that marries the two into a system that generates profit.

At the core of modern media is a process that works assiduously to disaggregate the two with new processes. The plant becomes a series of interlinked computers, the most important of which often aren’t even owned by the business, but instead are leased through payments to hosting services.

But for an established media house, there eventually comes a point where you have to leap from a sinking ship to a new vessel and you have to do so with the chains of the existing business wrapped firmly around your bottomline. How, exactly, do you prepare for that?

First, you need to forge a new relationship with your journalists. The employee-employer relationship works just fine in the old system of plant and process, but collapses in the face of Internet consumption. What media houses need are journalists who are both digital natives, no matter how recently transplanted, who are also entrepreneurs keen to work the space, helping with their every digital action to

sell the product.

So, no more blocking Facebook and Twitter at work, and eventually, no more showing up for work since what you need is appealing and informative content, not friends around the watercooler.

While you’re doing that, you need to reestablish a new relationship with your audience. The best way to do that is to create an online brand that plays to the acknowledged strengths of the media house and puts those assets at the tip of the digital spear.

This is the exact opposite of the traditional newspaper approach which creates a curated product that seeks to meet all reader needs. Nobody goes to the Internet for that. On Alexa, the rigorously focused local website trinituner.com enters the charts globally at 43,546 and is ranked 14 in TT.

Begin the process of making your archives accessible. A publication or broadcaster of record which has no deep public-facing collection of its own coverage is failing the second responsibility of journalism, reporting it being the first. For decades, the work of journalism has been seen as producing the daily product, but the most valuable asset of any media house is all that matter it’s been producing (and tossing into a backroom) over the decades. Rescuing this material and presenting it as bits will be crucial to creating the kind of authority that makes for a resonant online resource. These aren’t solutions to the money problem, but they are crucial to being a successful player in the new information marketplace.

If you don’t show up for the dance, no advertiser is going to ask you for a set. (TT Guardian)

Jagdeo not in support of Gov't regulating media

– says PPP still to discuss

issue

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA: The plan by the David Grangerled Administration to regulate the Guyanese media has been blasted by the leader of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and former President, Bharrat Jagdeo, who is now the Opposition Leader in the 11th Parliament.

The Opposition Leader emphasised that his Party has never had any definitive discussion on the matter. And while he was not directly speaking against the comments made by his Party’s General Secretary, Clement Rohee, Jagdeo said he has always been against any such policy. Rohee had intimated that there was need for possible media regulation in Guyana.

Jagdeo maintained that during his terms as President of Guyana, he had never touted a media regulation policy.

He explained that while he has suffered the brunt of the vilest and most unjust criticisms from the media, he has never sought to implement a media policy.

The Party’s General Secretary on Monday had said that the PPP may support the proposed policy as laid out by Government; however, there

must first be a public debate or consultation.

“I don’t agree that the media should have a free-for-all. The question of regulation in terms of the media is going to be a very sensitive issue, maybe it will have some constitutional impacts as well and I hope that whatever comes out, that it will be subject to public debate and discussion before anything is actually formalised and laid in the Parliament,” Rohee had told Journalists at the Party’s Robb Street headquarters.

Given the recent public exchange between Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and a freelance Journalist attached to the State-owned Guyana Chronicle on the is-

sue of the media’s right to call a spade a spade, local Journalists and the Opposition alike had taken the current Administration to task, citing what they believe was apparent hypocrisy regarding the operation of the State media.

Previously, the then A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) Opposition had objected to the alleged PPP/C interference and control over the State media in the 10th Parliament, using its one-seat majority to slash millions from the annual budget allocated to the Government Information Agency and the National Communications Network in particular.

While in the 10th Parliament, Moses Nagamootoo, then Vice Chairman of the AFC. had expressed concerns that politicians were regulating or controlling the press.

Nagamootoo, who himself is a Journalist, had said that his party had no issues with the independent monitoring of the press, blasting Government and accusing the PPP/C Administration of double standards by pushing for media regulation and abusing the State-owned media to its advantage. (Guyana Times)

PM Persad-Bissessar: Investor confidence in TT intact

PORT-OF-SPAIN,

TRINIDAD: Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar on Tuesday said that investor confidence in TT is intact, with major energy companies expressing their commitment to strengthening their ties with the country.

In the feature address at the sod turning ceremony for the TT$6.3 billion Caribbean Gas Chemical Ltd (CGCL) plant at the Union Industrial Estate, La Brea, she said the country’s investment climate is considered to be “consistently strong” and pointed out that the second largest investment in the country under her tenure, the TT$7.5 billion Solomon Hochoy Highway extension project, takes the top spot.

“In the last four years confidence in our economy and the energy sector has been expressed by major international players, including BP, BG, BHP and Shell. Last April, the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell visited TT after the historic acquisition of BG Group and said that Shell was committed to deepening and growing its position in TT based on the investment climate which he saw as being very consistent and very strong.

“It is this very consistent and very strong investment climate that has attracted these

companies from Japan. Japan is the world’s third largest economy and a world leader in technology. TT can therefore only benefit from this relationship with the Japanese companies here today,” Persad-Bissessar said.

Persad-Bissessar said the project will create 2000 jobs at peak construction and will benefit local contractors and energy service companies. Upon completion, it will permanently employ 180 workers in high paying positions.

She said labour, lease rentals, port charges, sale of water and electricity for the project will generate TT$2.2 billion for the local economy while foreign exchange earnings in the first 15 years are estimated at US $4 billion. She said additional revenue will be earned through the sale of natural gas to the project, corporation tax and dividends that will be paid to NGC. Finance Minister Larry Howai said the project is the third chapter in TT’s natural gas based industrialisation, following development of Point Lisas in the mid 1970s and the Atlantic natural gas plant in the mid 1990s. He said despite the global energy crisis, TT has been continuously attracting foreign direct investments, which are expected to double by 2017. (TT Guardian)

Record tourist arrivals expected in Jamaica for 2015

KINGSTON, JAMAICA: The lobby group

Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) expects the growth in visitors from the US and Europe to result in record arrivals for the island in 2015.

Already arrivals by sea and air increased for the first half of 2015 to 1.93 million or 6.3 per cent higher year on year despite declines from Canada, the third larg-

est source market. The growth puts the island on a path to record arrivals. Jamaica welcomed 3.5 million visitors to the island in 2014 who spent some US$2.2 billion or 6.4 per cent more year on year.

"We have seen the fall-off in Canada but we expect growth from the other markets," stated Nicola Madden-Greig in a phone interview with the Jamaican media. "The US is performing

and UK is also performing."

When disaggregating the data from the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), arrivals by sea and air are up 11.6 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively for the year to date compared with a year ago.

The JHTA hopes that the campaigns like 'Fall in Jamaica' will spur travel for the remainder of the year.

For the first six

months of 2015, the US market increased 5.6 per cent with some 693,100 stopover visitors; Europe grew by 7.6 per cent to some 136,300 stopover visitors; while Canada declined 5.8 per cent to some 228,300 stopover visitors, according to the

latest JTB data. In fact, the Canadian market suffered six consecutive months of decline in arrivals for 2015.

During the January to June 2015 period foreign visitors stayed roughly 8.3 nights or the same level as in 2014, while non-resi-

dent Jamaicans stayed roughly 15.1 days compared to 15.8 days in 2014. Between January and June 2015, the resort areas of Montego Bay, Negril, and Ocho Rios welcomed just over three-quarters of all stopover arrivals. (Jamaica Observer)

“Crimes politically influenced” – Guyana Police Commissioner

− ignores police statistics

By Devina Samaroo

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA:

Defending his position that public confidence in the Guyana Police Force (GPF) is not lost, Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud expressed his belief that the political Opposition is undermining the GPF’s efforts to fight crime by generating a perception that crime is spiralling out of control and that public trust and confidence in the system is rapidly deteriorating.

During an exclusive interview with Guyana

Times on Tuesday, Persaud said it is extremely unfortunate that crime has grown to become a tool for all political Oppositions to attack and defame the Government of the day, stating “It is extremely unfortunate that crime generally is a social issue, it is a social problem but unfortunately in Guyana, it is also a political problem. It is a highly political issue and it shouldn’t be.”

Persaud remained grounded that the public’s confidence in the Police Force is not lost, pointing out the headway in several high profile cases were made through assistance from the community.

He argued that public confidence simply cannot be lost when the support of the community is evident in helping to solve crimes, making reference to the Montrose Granny Murder, the Nandy Park Shooting, the attack on the Land Court Judge and her husband, and the buried body in Berbice, among others.

Therefore, in supporting his argument that crime is heavily politicised, the Commissioner highlighted three major incidents of crime that recently occurred which he concluded was politically influenced. He referred to the robbery in Campbelville where

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan’s neighbour Geetanjalie Ramotar was brutalised and tape bound by bandits, indicating that this situation raises suspicion.

He also referred to the murder of Corentyne resident Pamela Kendall which sparked a massive protest against the Government by residents in the area.

“Crime affects all of our lives regardless of one’s political affiliation. It cuts across religion, greed, race, whatever, it affects all of us and in order to really drive the situation down, we need to come together, all of us and deal with crime,” the Commissioner stated.

The most recent crime statistics reveal that serious crime increased by a drastic 10 per cent at the end of July, in comparison to the same period last year.

Further, there has been an increase of 68 per cent in the number of reports of rape, with 243 cases being reported at the end of July when compared to 145 for the same period last year. Break and enter, larceny and burglary have shown an overall increase of nine per cent.

A whopping 28 more illegal firearms were seized when compared to the same period last year. (Guyana Times)

Despite drought, agriculture grows for June quarter

- coffee up 190 per cent

KINGSTON, JAMAICA: Despite the prolonged drought, the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) says the country's agriculture, forestry and fishing industry has recorded growth of 0.5 per cent over the April to June quarter.

Director General of the PIOJ Colin Bullock stated that the sector was positively impacted by a 12.1 per cent increase in traditional export crops, which mainly reflected higher sugar cane and banana production.

"The improved sugar cane production during the review quarter was attributed to increased reaping to compensate for the late reopening of factories due to upgrading undertaken in the previous quarters," Bullock told the audience.

Meanwhile, coffee production increased by192.6 per cent, even with millions being lost by coffee farmers in the recent Mavis Bank fire.

"The increased output in coffee production was driven by higher prices obtained on the export market, as well as reduced incidence of the coffee leaf rust disease which does not thrive in the dry season," he added. "So the dry weather has had some positive impacts."

Post-harvest activities also jumped 90.2 per cent, while animal farming showed positive movements of 5.8 per cent. However, other agricultural crops saw a decline of 4.5 per cent reflecting drought conditions during the quarter, led by legumes which declined 21.4 per

cent, and fruits and potatoes down 14.8 per cent and 11.6 per cent, respectively.

The growth from the goods-producing sector along with the services industry, which both saw increases of 0.7 per cent, resulted in an economic growth rate of 0.8 per cent following declines in the last two quarters of 2014, and 0.3 per cent growth in the first quarter of 2015.

According to the PIOJ, the economic growth rate of 0.8 per cent reflected the positive impact of the hotel and restaurants, transport, storage and communication, along with the mining and quarrying industries.

Additionally, Bullock stated that there was an improvement in domestic demand resulting from the strengthening of consumer and business confidence levels, and the intensification of road rehabilitation and repair work and the construction of the North-South link of Highway 2000.

Growth was also impacted from expansions in the hotel industry and the construction of new office spaces in the Business Process Outsourcing sector.

For the quarter under review, hotels and restaurants increased by 2.0 per cent, reflecting a 1.1 per cent growth in stopover arrivals from the United States up 2.3 per cent and Europe up 5.1 per cent. The report added that the country saw a 5.3 per cent increase in cruise passenger arrivals, which resulted in an increase of 2.6 per cent in total visitor arrivals. Airport arrivals for July grew by 0.9 per cent to 203,735 passengers.

The PIOJ is predicting up to 2.0 per cent GDP growth for the July to September quarter, citing that the improvements should be seen in airport arrivals, electricity generation, major growth projects, and macroeconomic stability including relative stability in the exchange rate.

Bullock added that in terms of economic growth should also be seen from improved industrial relations from the wage agreement signed with public sector workers, the buy-back of PetroCaribe debt, and the strengthening of confidence levels from the successful completion of IMF quarterly reviews.(Jamaica Observer)

Colombia, a strategic ally for the Caribbean agribusiness industry

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA

-Colombia’s agribusiness sector generates about 6.2% of the GDP, playing a key role in the growth of the country’s economy. According to the National Statistics Department (DANE), the exports in agribusiness grew by 10% compared to 2013 and its products have reached more than 127 countries.

Procolombia, the Colombian government promotion agency, has played a fundamental role promoting the country as a world-class exporter due to its portfolio diversity. The agency offers complementary services such as attendance to industry tradeshows in Colombia, participation in business matchmaking forums securing relevant leads, and the elaboration of commercial agendas, among many others.

Colombia continues to position itself as a strategic partner for the Caribbean market, showing a sustained growth over the last couple of years. Agribusiness exports reached US$192.2 million representing an increase of 15.5% compared to 2013. In

Guyana launches Education Month

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA:

September 1 marks the beginning of Education Month in Guyana and as such, a number of activities have been slated to commemorate this year’s monthlong agenda in promoting education throughout the country.

Under the theme “Quality Education Leadership: Improving Schools from Within”, the Education Ministry will host the official launching of Education Month 2015 at the Theatre Guild, Georgetown, tomorrow. During this event there will be the presentation of the Sagicor Visionaries Awards for the year 2014 and simultaneously the launch of Sagicor Visionaries 2015.

On September 8, there will be the “Give a

Book Today” throughout the 10 administrative regions where persons would be expected to devote some time towards reading at 11:00h. There will also be a reading fair held on Main Street, Georgetown on the same date.

At the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) in Kingston, Georgetown, there will be the launching of the Climate Change Education for Sustainable Development on September 10.

During the monthlong celebrations, there will be a seminar for headteachers and principals of Education Districts Three, Four, Five, Six, 10 and Georgetown under the theme “Educational Leaders as Agents of

Change”. This seminar will be held on September 15 at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

Other activities for the rest of the month include the launch of the Guyana Early Childhood Education Project in Region Seven, rally for education, school steel bands presentation, a technological fair, award ceremony for attendance and punctuality of learners, and an Open Day at the Cyril Potter College of Education. There will also be a National Award Ceremony for Outstanding Performance of schools and learners which will be the last event for Education Month and will be held at the National Cultural Centre. (Guyana Times)

Lukewarm TT response to ‘open seas’ proposal

PORT-OFSPAIN, TRINIDAD:

Food Production Minister, Devant Maharaj, says he is all in favour of pooled regional resources to meet the food needs of the Caribbean, but is concerned about “who is eventually going to foot the bill.”

addition to bananas and flowers, the fastest growing sub-sectors of the country, in June 2015 the agribusiness and agricultural exports of sugar and honey, oils and fats, confectionery and bakery, among others, have contributed to a 6% increase in sales of Colombian products in the region.

Colombia is the largest exporter of flowers in Latin America and the second in the world after the Netherlands with over 1,500 varieties of flowers and 7,200 hectares cultivated.

Due to its enviable logistical position with access to several markets worldwide, Colombia has established itself as an export platform for logistic hubs.

In terms of connectivity, Colombia offers access to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The country has more than 16 shipping companies offering services to 56 ports in the Caribbean, such as Caucedo, Kingston, Havana, Oranjestad, Point Lisas, Pointe a Pitre, Port of Spain, Rio Haina, San Juan, Willemstad, among others. (Caribbeannewsnow)

The minister was asked by TT media to respond to a recent appeal by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management of Barbados, Esworth Reid, for the region to pull together financial and other resources to secure the future of the fisheries industry while also pursuing an “open seas” arrangement.

Reid said at the opening of a regional food security meeting for the fisheries sector that “sustainable growth in this important sector and the ability for governments in the region to fully and effectively tap into the significant potential benefits associated with it... requires that there be a regional approach to the sector by way of joint efforts among stakeholder member states to drive the sector forward.”

He also proposed a

scenario within which there was not only harmonised legislation but “going after the benefits associated with economies of scale through large-scale production when fishing and fish processing become a regional joint venture rather than a national venture characterised by fragmented microbusiness.”

“I believe that the time has come where the countries in the region can come together as an integrated economic space and agree to institute a policy of open sea resources to all members of the region,” Reid said.

“This can be done without compromising the sovereign rights of the individual member states, especially their

rights to the resources in the sea that immediately surrounds them.”

Maharaj however warned that such a proposal would need to be discussed at the level of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) heads since, “It cannot be a case where everybody will just jump on board” following a suggestion by one of the region’s 15 member states.

Reid had however been clear that, “It is my opinion and it is just my opinion and does not reflect the opinion of the ministry and that of the minister that as a region, we should allow legitimate fishermen to operate their legitimately registered vessels, without hindrance, anywhere in the Caribbean.”

This, he said would be “subject to (a) set of rules and a set fee or levy paid either to the member state in which waters the vessel is operating or to a central regional body agency established by Caricom.

“The proceeds from the fees and levies collected by this agency can then be divided and distributed among the member states based on an agreed formula by the member states involved,” Reid said. (TT Guardian)

Seeking new opportunities for TT

PORT-OF-SPAIN,

TRINIDAD: The People’s National Movement (PNM) intends to revamp TT's energy sector should it win the September 7 general election. According to the party’s 2015 election manifesto which was launched last Thursday at the Radisson Hotel in Port-of-Spain, the PNM vowed that upon assuming office it will, “immediately commence open, transparent and formal discussions with all major players in the Trinidad and Tobago energy sector, upstream, midstream and downstream to achieve consensus on appropriate improvements to our oil and gas taxation regime, incentives and gas pricing regime.”

The PNM said in its manifesto that while the energy sector continues to be the main driver of the TT economy, contributing 50 percent of our GDP and almost 60 percent of government revenues, “over the last five years, the

management of the energy sector has been a colossal failure.” The party said, “through bungling incompetence on the part of the UNC (United National Congress) led- government, we have lost 25 percent of our oil production since 2010, and the sector has been characterised by natural gas production shortfalls and extremely poor decision-making.

"The PNM said it intends

Jamaica Customs Agency praised for initiating implementation of ASYCUDA

KINGSTON, JAMAICA:

The Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) is being lauded for moving to introduce the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) webbased application for its transactions, which is expected to yield significant cost savings and improved service delivery. Under the system, most paper intensive Customs processes will be replaced with online procedures, which will enable the JCA’s clients, including customs brokers and shipping agencies, to undertake electronic transactions, including manifest submissions, declarations, and payments.

These engagements are expected to simplify and standardise procedures for customers, reduce waiting time, provide more accurate and consistent tax calculations, and address revenue leakage through enhanced system controls and accountability.

ASYCUDA Regional Advisor to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Jamie Mendoza, says the JCA, and in particular Chief Executive Officer and Commissioner of Customs, Major (Ret’d) Richard Reese, must be

acknowledged for embarking on this “radical transformation.”

“The paperless environment is (intended) to bring down costs and make sure that the competitiveness of Jamaica is improved (in order to) attract foreign direct investment,” he says.

He was speaking at a Trade Facilitation Task Force (TF2) meeting at the Ministry of Industry, Investment, and Commerce in New Kingston, last Thursday.

Mr. Mendoza said when the JCA was initially approached to move into a paperless environment, it was deemed impossible, “but today, it is a reality.”

The ASYCUDA’s implementation, slated for completion by March 2016, is being initiated as a pilot at all sufferance wharves islandwide, inclusive of the state-owned oil refinery, Petrojam, the first importer to benefit under this phase.

A sufferance wharf is a facility licensed by Customs authorities for clearance of imported cargo.

Implementation of the ASYCUDA is consistent with the Government’s focus on improving trade facilitation and service delivery in Customs administration. (JIS)

es to new and emerging oil and gas producing countries within Caricom, Africa and elsewehere, the party said it will “encourage and facilitate partnerships, investment and joint ventures with oil and gas companies and state agencies overseas, focusing on Guyana and Suriname, Ghana and Tanzania.

The People’s Partnership coalition has identified energy partnerships with Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname as some of the initiatives it will pursue if re-elected to office on September 7.

to, “ensure that we have an attractive, competitive and responsive fiscal and regulatory enviroment that will maximise recovery of our hydrocarbon resources and national income and put us back on a path to sustained growth in the sector.

Stating it will support and encourage local professionals and service companies to export energy servic-

According to its 2015, election manifesto, the PP said it will, “work with Venezuela to monetise our Manatee fields that we share, will proceed.”

The PP also notes there “are opportunities in Guyana and Suriname that we have begun to explore and that we will continue to pursue with increased vigour.” The coalition expressed the view that, “these opportunities can be

leveraged based on our experience and know-how, acquired over our 100-year history in the energy, Further, the PP, hinted this could “also open up options in northern Brazil and Colombia, with implications for other international publicprivate partnership streams of development.

The PP said, “Possibilities also exist for collaboration with Barbados, which is now involved in its second round of exploration in oil and gas.”

The coalition also said, “ We have already signed a memorandum of understanding with the Inter-American Development Bank(IDB) to collaborate globally to establish an energy fund for Caribbean economic sustainability, which will transform the energy matrix in the region.” The PP added, “This will open up new opportunities for both the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the TT private sector.”(TT Newsday)

Wakenaam resident produces first ever wooden bicycle

By IndrawattIe natram

GEORGETOWN,

GUYANA: A joiner from San Souci village of the Island of Wakenaam in the Essequibo River, Region Three ( Essequibo IslandWest Demerara) has produced Guyana’s first wooden bicycle. Shazim Bacchus made the bicycle from hardwood.

Bacchus in an exclusive interview with Guyana Times said that the bicycle was made from wood harvested from nearby forested areas. He related that he constructed the bicycle using his own skills and technology and with the raw materials that were available to him.

When ask what prompted him to construct a wooden bicycle, Bacchus said that he heard

President David Granger advocating for persons to add value to

Amerindian Heritage Month

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA:

Under the theme “Preserving our Customs and Traditions”, Indigenous Peoples’ Heritage Month was officially launched in splendour at the Heritage Village at the National Exhibition Centre at Sophia, Greater Georgetown on Tuesday evening.

The ceremony featured a grand cultural showcase that included traditional dances, songs and poetry from indigenous persons across Guyana.

In his address, Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Minister and Vice President Sydney Allicock urged indigenous Guyanese to embrace their

heritage with pride and to reflect on the value of what their forbearers left behind for them. He added that Guyana’s indigenous people should not be intimidated, as they were a special people and needed to be treated that way.

The Minister also stated that indigenous people should stop attacking each other and to start attacking the issues that were keeping them from being the “best they can be.”

Also addressing the gathering was President David Granger, who said the Government of Guyana was pleased to be associated with Indigenous Heritage Month, as time was dedicated to observances and events that

their products.

“I love what I do, the designs come from within, I just craft the design and then carve the end product,” Bacchus said. Speaking about his business, he said it was established under the name EF Trading which means Evergreen Exotic Forest at San Souci in Wakenaam. Bacchus said that he got the idea for the construction of the bicycle after he realised that many of the available hardwoods were suitable for the manufacture of various products, including creative craft, including the bicycle.

He said he learnt his trade and honed his skills under the stewardship of his father Kazim Bacchus who is a Carpenter/ Contractor at Wakeaam. (Guyana Times)

launched in Guyana

highlighted various aspects of indigenous life and showcased their contributions to national life.

The President declared that the rich and diverse culture of Guyana’s indigenous people needed to be safeguarded. He added that modernisation and penetration by other cultures were threatening many of the traditions and values which many people hold dear. Culture encompasses the totality of a people’s experience and existence and incorporates customs and traditions, Granger highlighted. “Culture is about value and relationships with one another and with the environment. It is about languages and today, I wish to

express hope to the future of indigenous languages within our public.”

President Granger highlighted that the Government favoured cultural retention and cultural continuity and greatly respected the identity and heritage of the indigenous people of Guyana, and therefore wanted to see those languages preserved and propagated.

Activities will continue throughout the month for the celebration of indigenous heritage including the Heritage Pageant, Cultural Extravaganza, Indigenous Heritage Fashion show and many others for the month of September. (Guyana Times)

Rowley: ‘Copy cat UNC’ Education Ministry in J’ca takes action to identify Autism early

PORT-OF-SPAIN,

TRINIDAD: Political Leader of the People’s National Movement (PNM), Dr Keith Rowley, addressing supporters in Rio Claro on Saturday night, accused the United National Congress (UNC) of copying PNM’s campaign techniques.

Rowley said, in essence, the PNM is running two campaigns — one on behalf of itself and the other for the UNC.

“The PNM is in our 60th year and we have been accustomed to being copied,” Rowley told a large crowd of supporters at the Rio Claro Roundabout.

“Our Constitution has been copied by a number of political organisations.

“Copying is one thing but putting it into practice is another.

“Only the PNM has been able to properly operate our Constitution.

So in our sixtieth year, we are still rooted in the fundamental principles of that Constitution and we honour it and follow it. I’m afraid we can’t say the same for those who copied it.” Rowley said, — the party divided the country into five regions and, beginning in Arima, the PNM presented candidates on the eastern part of the country, then went to Tobago. Candidates were then presented in the southern part of the country.

“Next thing we know, UNC having regional presentations.

“Then, of course, we have a campaign slogan. We said to the people of Trinidad and Tobago that we are in this together.

“And once we acknowledged that we are in this together, and that we are our brother’s keeper, we said, ‘Let’s do this Together’.

Two weeks before the election, the UNC comes up with a slogan, ‘Let’s move forward Together’, as if we wouldn’t know they copied our slogan.” Rowley said, while the UNC had copied its tactic of having conversations with citizens across the country, the UNC is not listening to the concerns of the people in the same way that the PNM is.

“You don’t see us with little ear pieces in our ears and any teleprompter to tell us what to say. We continue with genuine conversations — what you see is what you get. What you tell us we respond to.” On the issue of diversification of the economy, Rowley said the PNM sees the potential for this country to flourish in the area of agriculture. He identified cocoa and soursop as two products that the country could develop and promote. His plan for cocoa includes identifying the best areas for cocoa growth, but he told supporters that the PNM’s plan was not to swamp the country with cocoa.

He pointed to the potential for better soursop production, raising the possibility of planting up to 300 acres of soursop, including the fruit in the School Feeding Program and exporting.( TT Newsday)

KINGSTON, JAMAICA:

The Ministry of Education is taking steps to facilitate the diagnosis of autism at the early childhood level, and to apply the appropriate responses.

“We have, in conjunction with the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), reformed and reopened the Voluntary Organization for the Upliftment of Children (VOUCH) centre at West Race Course, in Kingston, with a particular focus on the diagnosis of the disease in the early childhood cohort. A similar facility is expected to be opened in Savanna-laMar, by January 2016,” says Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites.

He pointed out that the centres will supplement work currently underway in Kingston; May Pen, Clarendon; Mandeville, Manchester; Montego Bay, St. James; St. Ann’s Bay, St. Ann and Port Antonio, in Portland.

Rev. Thwaites was speaking at the launch of the Maia Chung Autism and Disability Foundation Scholarship Fund, held at the Ministry of Education premises, in Kingston, on August 26.

“The Ministry of Education treats special education as a priority area. The general subject is of great significance, because our anecdotal and some statistical evidence indicate that 20 to 25 per cent of our children fall somewhere on the spectrum of exceptionality and need special care,” he informed.

The Minister commended the work of the Foundation,

adding that their help in increasing awareness of the condition is an important step in improving the national response.

“We are anxious to improve our facilities in this regard and we support entirely the effort that you are making in offering this scholarship,” he said.

The Maia Chung Autism Scholarship Programme aims to give financial assistance to a Jamaican family that has a loved one with the disorder. The scholarship, which is valued at Ja$40,000, will assist in the education, training and therapeutic needs of the recipient.

This endowment is endorsed by the Ministry and will be promoted through its network of educators. The

scholarship is open to basic, primary, secondary and tertiary students as well as persons who are enrolled in a HEART Trust/NTA programme who are diagnosed with autism and are educable and trainable and are from families that have significant financial challenges.

The first allocation of the sum will go to a basic school student at the end of September 2015.

Founder of the Autism and Disabilities Foundation, Maia Chung, said the initiative aims to heighten the awareness of the disorder and promote positive actions for the growth and development of children with autism.

“We believe that joining with the Ministry of

Education will allow us to get educators on board. This will not only help persons who need the intervention, but we will have the assistance of the educators themselves, who will act as a tier of identifiers and help in making up numbers to spread awareness about autism,” she explained.

Autism is a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain, impacting development in the areas of social interaction and communication skills. Manifestation of the disorder is difficulty with verbal and non verbal communication.

Both children and adults are affected by the disorder, which typically appears during the first three years of a child’s life. (JIS)

UN Mission dispatched to Guyana visits Essequibo

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA: The United Nation (UN) Mission dispatched by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to Guyana, to hold discussions on matters surrounding the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela, last Sunday visited the Essequibo Coast and River, as part of its preparations for consultations.

Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge in an invited comment told Guyana Times on Sunday that the team, headed by the Chief of the Americas Division – Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations, Martha Doggett, visited the locations on Sunday, along with the Maburama and Waini regions. According to the Minister, the officials saw that the area was not an “empty expanse of river and land”, but that they have been occupied and utilised since the 19th century.

According to Greenidge, while Guyana’s job is not to argue with the team about what really belongs to Guyana, Government has facilitated the officials and will be cooperating in every possible way. It is their job; he said, to deal with the issue.

The team has also indicated that it will be visiting the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as part of the consultative process.

Venezuela recently began moving throughout the Caribbean seeking out solidarity from the Caribbean Community (Caricom) member States on its claims over the Essequibo. This has not gone down quite too well, as every member country, including its Chair Freundel Stuart of Barbados reiterated Caricom’s deepening and unwavering support to Guyana and the position it holds.Venezuela’s President Nicolás

Maduro issued a decree ratifying maritime sovereignty over waters within a 200-mile range, including the entire Atlantic Ocean off the Essequibo Coast, as well as part of Suriname’s maritime territory.

This decree sparked a nationwide debate regarding the matter, with various regional bodies and nations calling for the peaceful resolution of the conflict.

The UN team met on Monday with former Government officials and current Government Ministers including Minister Carl Greenidge; former Foreign Affairs Ministers, Sir Shridath Ramphal; Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett; and Rashleigh Jackson; former Guyana Facilitator in the Good Offices Process Ralph Ramkarran; Ambassadors Rudolph Collins, Elisabeth Harper, and Major General Retired Joseph Singh. (Guyana Times)

Gy$36M for the National Task Force Commission – works underway to restore Guyana’s beauty

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA: In an effort to restore the country to its former glory by showcasing Guyana’s natural beauty and resources diverse in its forestry, rivers, soil type, minerals and numerous waterfalls, the recently established National Task Force Commission (NTFC) has begun works under its “Project Restore Guyana” initiative.

The NTFC has been awarded thirty-six million dollars by Cabinet for a six-month duration until the other budget is presented in 2016, where funding should be continued throughout the next five years. Though the NTFC is yet to receive the monies, work is already underway.

This is according to Retired Major General Joe Singh, who during a media briefing at the Public Infrastructure Ministry on Monday. Singh stated that there has been significant deterioration of many aspects of the Guyanese life including unplanned settlements, inadequate traffic flows, garbage buildup and occasional flooding in many areas.

As such, the National Task Force Commission will be focusing on five

important issues which revolve around drainage, traffic management, sustainable urban, rural and hinterland physical structure renewal and solid waste management and derelict vehicle removal.

Last but not least the welfare management of the homeless, addicted and mentally challenged will also be a key issue for the commission.

Guyana Times was told that the major failures in Guyana which have affected the country in the past and continue in the present are the failure to enforce laws and standards, lack of physical planning for growth and renewal and the lack of routine and necessary maintenance.

The general neglect of the poor, homeless, aged, disabled and other unfortunate members of society is also a main part of the reason for the country’s failures.

Singh explained that the mission of the Task Force is to restore Guyana as a land of great attractiveness and prosperity and one which offers a goof life for all its citizens and visitors.

According to Retired Major General Singh, the vision for a rehabilitated, restored and renewed

Guyana will see civic pride being restored, all Guyanese enjoying a “good life” and for the country to become a hub for commerce, tourism and development.

As it relates to the issue of drainage, it was stated that the City and six towns all drain into the Atlantic Ocean, all below sea level at high tide. This situation is worsened by alleyways, main and lateral drains, and drainage canals often being blocked by heavy vegetation and solid waste, he explained.

“This problem is compounded by lack of maintenance on sluices and outfalls. Our mission is to develop a drainage mechanism that effec-

tively drains the country during periods of heavy rainfall while reducing the obstructions to economic activity as well as the health and livelihood of citizens… Solid waste generation is a huge-by product of modern living and can have a negative impact on the quality of life of communities and the environment in particular,” the head of the NTFC noted.

Guyana Times was told that solid waste management seems to be a monumental problem in almost every community, and as such, the NTFC’s mission on this issue is to recommend well developed ‘best practices’ which can be employed in all areas of

Gypsy warmly welcomed to PNM meeting

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD: Just days after he resigned as Minister of Community Development and a member of the United National Congress (UNC), Winston “Gypsy” Peters was given a rapturous welcome by supporters of the People’s National Movement (PNM) when he made a surprise appearance at the party’s public meeting at the Rio Claro Roundabout on Saturday night.

The former minister’s arrival was acknowleged from the platform by chairperson for the evening, Nafeesa Mohammed, as he made his way through the crowd to loud applause. He was also welcomed by the party’s Mayaro candidate, Clarence Rambharat, chairman Franklin Khan and political leader Dr Keith Rowley. Dressed in a red shirt and smiling broadly, Peters shook hands with

several persons in the large crowd before taking up a position near the stage.

“Welcome Gypsy!

Welcome Mr Peters, welcome on board!” Mohammed shouted. Rambarath, who had expected to face Gypsy in the battle for the seat, told his former rival he should count himself lucky even though he felt he had been treated badly by the party he once represented.

“I want to say to Gypsy, as much as you might be upset and distraught by the treatment they gave to you, say thank God you are alive,” the PNM candidate said.

On a lighter note, Rowley said Peters had gone sightseeing and it was a good thing he had finally found his way back. Rowley said he understood the reasoning behind Peters’ decision. He said all parties, while they may have different methods, ought to share the same objectives

Guyana. These are to include predictable garbage collection, recycling, conversion of organic waste into compost and the removal of derelict vehicles.

As for the area of traffic management, the problem is that there is an increase in the number of commercial and personal vehicles over the years and ‘urban sprawl’ along the East and West Banks, and the West Coast of Demerara. This has rendered Guyana’s road network and with Georgetown being the only city, numerous people are travelling to and from it every day for business and leisure.

With this in mind, the NTFC’s mission is to recommend actions to address road safety, traffic congestion and lack of parking as well as to expand the road network while introducing and maintaining sustainability.

Retired Major General Singh further stated that countrywide decay is very visible in many areas of Guyana.

The poor quality of the buildings, national monuments and public spaces, the lack of proper maintenance, along with insufficient space to respond to growing social

demands have degraded living conditions.

“Our mission is to recommend a more balanced national structure that is less environmentally demanding, systems of enforcement against the use of non-environmentally friendly pesticides; and buildings and sites for preservation… For welfare management of the homeless, addicted and mentally challenged as they are encountered in other goals the mission is to recommend actions to address the issue in cases where they affect the implementation of the other goals,” the media was told.

It was further stated that the NTFC has already set goals and timelines for its “deliverables.”

In September this year, there will be a summary report derived from research and public consultation and in October 2015 there will be a draft restoration plan including detailed plan and budget for phase one activities.

November 2015 will see the final restoration plan and between this month to May 2016, the monitoring of the implementation of phase one will be conducted. (Guyana Times)

but this had not been the case with the UNC, which Peters recently found out for himself.

“My good friend Gypsy simply went sightseeing, but that was okay,” the PNM leader said later in his address, Rowley again touched on Peter’s defection from the ruling coalition when he recalled Persad-Bissessar’s invitation for citizens to take her hand. He warned citizens against accepting that invitation.

“In fact, my friend Gypsy will tell you don’t take that invitation, don’t even touch that hand!!” he said. Peters, who has been the MP for Mayaro for four years, severed ties with the UNC last week after he was overlooked as a candidate by Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar. Businessman Rushton Paray is the UNC candidate for Mayaro. (TT Guardian)

Order of the Republic for Dookeran, McLeod

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD: Two politicians and members of the People’s Partnership (PP) governing coalition are receiving TT’s highest national award this year. Economist Winston Dookeran, the Foreign Affairs Minister and former labour leader Errol McLeod, who currently serves as Minister of Labour, will receive the Order of the Republic of TT for outstanding service to the country.

Dookeran’s award is for distinguished contributions in economics, while McLeod’s award is for outstanding service in trade unionism and industrial relations, according to a Government release on Monday.

Dookeran, originally from Rio Claro, is the former political leader the Congress of the People (COP) which he co-founded in 2006. With a degree in economics and maths at the University of Manitoba, Canada and an

Msc in Economics at the London School of Economics, University of London, UK, he has had a dinstinguished academic career, with many publications on developmental economics in the Caribbean. He lectured for 15 years at UWI on economics.

In 1981 Dookeran contested the constituency of Chaguanas as a candidate of the United Labour Front, and won. In 1986, when the ULF merged with other parties to form the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), Dookeran again ran for the Chaguanas seat and won. Under the NAR he became a Cabinet minister, a minister of planning, and NAR deputy political leader. He acted as prime minister on several occasions, including during the 1990 attempted coup when prime minister ANR Robinson was taken hostage. He lost his seat in the 1991 elections.

Dookeran has been a

senior economist at the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. He was also a member of the executive board of the Inter-American Development Bank and the governor of the Caribbean Development Bank. He was Governor of the Central Bank of TT from

1997-2002. In 2002 he joined the United National Congress (UNC) and won the St Augustine constituency. In October 2005 Dookeran succeeded Basdeo Panday as leader of the UNC. By 2006 he had formed his own political party, the COP, which would eventually join the PP alliance.

Errol McLeod, from La Romain, San Fernando, began his career begain in the oil business in the 1960s when he joined the Texaco Apprenticeship Training Scheme. He went on to work for the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery in many positions, including as an electrician and refinery operator. McLeod became a member of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) in the 1970s, rising to become its president general in 1987, until he retired in 2008.

He was a founding member of the United Labour

Front in the mid-70s, when mainly black oil workers, mainly Indian sugarcane farmers and members of the Transport and Industrial Workers Union tried to form a multi-racial alliance of diverse interests under the name of the ULF. The ULF became a formal political party in 1976 “to unite the working class as a class for political struggle...” McLeod was elected MP for Oropouche on the ULF ticket in the 1976 elections.

Despite its intentions to become a multi-racial party, the ULF became the successor to the Democratic Labour Party, and came to represent largely Indian interests.

McLeod was political leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ), a labour party that formed in early 2010. He resigned as MSJ leader in January 2012 to focus on his duties as Minister of Labour and MP for Pointe-a-Pierre. (TT Guardian)

Gun Amnesty Programme will fail – PPP/C Guyana Gov't’s hurried crime-fighting plan…

GEORGETOWN,

GUYANA: The Public Security Ministry’s Gun Amnesty Programme is expected to take effect from Tuesday, but former Home Affairs

Minister Clement Rohee believes that Government is wasting its time in this regard, as no success will be had from this crime fighting initiative.

Public Security

Minister Khemraj Ramjattan said that Government will accept all illegal weapons from individuals who hand them in, adding that these individuals will not face prosecution.

While he had then said the Church Movement would be the depository for the weapons, Rohee said, this has now been changed and will see the Police stations being the locations for the activity, with the faith-based organisations overseeing. While he himself was a crusader for the initiative, Rohee said that international experience and advice from his consultants have proven this idea to be sultry. He listed countries such as Argentina, Australia and Brazil and nine states within the United States of America, where the programme

had not gone down too well.

Rohee recalled that while he was Home Affairs Minister, a Task Force on narcotics was established. The members of that Task Force were drawn from the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit, among others. That Task Force, he said, has had lengthy discussions on the efficacy of the gun amnesty.

Rohee said the sudden change of mind of President David Granger in this regard can be con-

Jamaica Information Service Officer awarded UK Chevening Scholarship

KINGSTON, JAMAICA: Broadcaster, and former public relations executive with the Government’s news agency, the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), Oroyo Eubanks, is a talented young Jamaican who is driven by a desire to make a difference in whatever he undertakes, in order to make himself and his family proud.

In addition to his substantive duties as a public relations officer during his 17-month tenure at the JIS, Mr. Eubanks, who has over 10 years experience in the broadcast media, was also one of the hosts of the

agency’s daily Jamaica Magazine television programme, and a presenter of news and features for the agency’s radio pro-

He previously worked as a talk show producer and news anchor with local radio stations, Power 106FM and Music 99FM. (JIS)

sidered a slap in his face, since he had himself said the initiative will not work.

In efforts to curb the number of gun-related

crimes and rid the streets of unlicensed weapons, the APNU+AFC coalition had outlined in its elections manifesto that it will be implementing an amnesty programme for the surrender of illegal weapons, which will be backed by a “Voluntary Weapons Collection” programme. (Guyana Times)

Accountant General’s Department in J’ca undergoing modernisation

KINGSTON, JAMAICA:

The Accountant General's Department (AGD) — the central government body responsible for administering salaries and making most payments for ministries, departments and agencies -- has been modernising its system to provide more efficient services.

This engagement is being facilitated through a modernisation programme which it has been implementing since 2013, and is intended to revise the department's various units and processes, thereby positioning it to operate optimally.

Client services manager, said the AGD accounts for and "ensures the servicing of government debts, and payments of pensions and other benefits to all the persons employed by the Government of Jamaica".

She indicated that since the modernidation programme commenced, there have been significant service improvements.

One such, she said, is improvement being effected to the process of issuing life certificates for pensioners.

A life certificate is an official document used by the AGD to verify that a pensioner is still alive, and thus remains eligible to continue receiving a pension entitlement.

"What we have done, so far, is we have barcoded our life certificates.

This means we have put specific features in the barcodes of the life certificate that are [unique] to [each] pensioner. So when that life certificate enters our system, we can easily scan [and] have an image of [it] and with a click of the button it enters in the payroll system. [So] the processing time [for payments] has reduced drastically," Weir Grant explained.

She said the department has also outsourced the dispatching of the certificates to beneficiaries.

The AGD has also introduced a new text messaging alert system which informs pensioners about their status of life certificate.

"If the certificates come in and they are [deemed] invalid [for whatever reason], we can quickly send a message to [advise beneficiaries of this] and ask them for an updated

[document]. When we do ask them for an updated life certificate, we have services where we can email them a certificate if we have an email address for them [or] we can mail it out to them if they do not have that available, or they can collect one at the office," Weir Grant said, pointing out that certificates are posted every three months.

Consequent on the fact that a pensioner's certificate may, invariably, not properly com-

pleted, and is deemed invalid, resulting in suspension of the due payment, the AGD advises beneficiaries to ensure that up-to-date contact information is provided, to avoid delays in securing clarifications. "Therefore, if it is that they can actually provide us with banking information, an easy contact number, and email addresses, then that's the easiest way to get in touch with them," Weir Grant stated. (Jamaica Observer)

Guyana: Social Cohesion Roundtable talks for Sept 3

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA: With the aim of bridging the gaps created by social, economic and ethnic divides, the Social Cohesion Ministry will stage its first Social Cohesion Roundtable (SCR) at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre come September 3.

This initiative, which is being funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the British High Commission, will pave the way for the development of a strategic framework for the implementation of Guyana’s five-year social cohesion plan.

Social Cohesion Minister Amna Ally made this disclosure on Monday in the presence of the British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn; SCR International Facilitator Chris Speis, and former UNDP Social Cohesion Programme Head Lawrence Latchmansingh, who will be among the SCR Local Facilitators.

In her address to the press at the Ministry of the Presidency, Ally said inequality and social barriers continued to pervade society – issues the Social Cohesion Ministry intended to address through its strategic plan.

“This Ministry has a very challenging role, but I believe that we can do it. I believe that with the sup-

port of stakeholders, with support from the people of Guyana and with support from the international community, we are going to achieve this question of bridging the gaps,” she emphasised.

Ally made it clear that if there be need for legislative changes to effectively facilitate social cohesion in Guyana, the requisite changes would be made based on recommendations emanating from the roundtable discussions.

Adding to the sentiments expressed by the Minister, Latchmansingh said the foundation for the strategic plan was laid some 12 years ago by the Social Cohesion Programme, which was facilitated by the UNDP. According to him, a significant amount of work was completed under the programme which came to an end in 2006.

Meanwhile, the British High Commissioner advised that all must get involved.

The Social Cohesion Roundtable, which will be held under the theme “Social Cohesion for Lasting Unity and Peace, will feature both local and international experts, with special presentations being made by President David Granger and Sir Shridath Ramphal.

The roundtable discussion, which will come to an end on Friday, is designed

to engage and garner contributions from citizens to enhance social cohesion across Guyana. As a result, during this two-day event, practical options, strategies and capacities for building social cohesion and addressing inequalities will be identified, while simultaneously creating national awareness and sensitisation among stakeholders on issues of social cohesion. Additionally, emphasis will be placed on ethnic relations and politics; equality – social and economic; community safety and well-being, and political participation and governance.

Ahead of the roundtable discussion, regional outreaches were held in Regions Three (Essequibo Islands- West Demerara); Five (MahaicaBerbice); Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) and 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice). While representatives of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) have participated in these meetings at the regional level, it is unclear whether the senior members within the party will participate on Thursday and Friday; however, an invitation was extended.

More than 50 governmental and non-governmental organisations have been involved in the process and are, therefore, expected to be involved. (Guyana Times)

TDC embarks on ecotourism drive in TT

PORT-OF-SPAIN,

TRINIDAD: There is need for more teamwork and better co-ordination in the tourism sector to achieve sustainability says Keith Chin, chief executive officer at the Tourism Development Company (TDC). He was speaking about TT’s desire to establish more nature trails as part of an eco-tourism drive. The TT Incoming Tour Operators Association (TTITOA) is the project leader and reportedly brought a wealth of experience to this initiative.

Chin believes the project has cultural and economic wealth as routes appeal to a variety of users such as overnight visitors who see this as part of their special interest holiday, as well as staying visitors that frequent the route on day excursions, or urban domestic visitors. Developing this market, he said, will contribute to the protection and strengthening of the identity and unique heritage of the destination, whilst ensuring the survival of the destination and tourism enterprises in the global marketplace.

“The rapid development of tourism worldwide has led an increasing number of developing countries to exploit natural and cultural assets that have tourism potential, such as warm climate, cultural wealth and biodiversity. Tourism creates significant opportunities to develop infrastructure, create em-

ployment, promote local circular flow of income, preserve natural resources and culture and aid in poverty alleviation,” he said.

“The natural richness and cultural diversity found in many countries and region is unique and different and provides major unique selling propositions for developing and emerging countries, which set them apart from competing tourism destinations.”

In the past two decades, he said, tourism routes have mushroomed all over the world, in particular in the developed world. This trend, said the TDC official, emerged because new terrain offers important product and development opportunities in a market where there is a shift away from standardised mass tourism to more individualistic patterns, where the increasing need of visitors to experience new things and have a more meaningful experience has gained prominence.

“The TDC is mandated to develop and market TT’s tourism product and improve the local tourism sector. The trails project which we have officially launched affords us the opportunity especially in peripheral regions to contribute to the creation of or development of the basic tourism product offering coupled with a nature and cultural product that can only be experiences at the destination,” Chin said. (TT Guardian)

Guyana Gov’t trampling on press freedom

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA:The A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) Government has been accused of trampling on press freedom in Guyana, an act which it is said was a highlight during the rule of the 1980’ People’s National Congress (PNC) Administration.

People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Clement Rohee on Monday said the APNU/AFC has been successful in its attempt to overturn the progress made by the PPP/Civic to allow press freedom.

amples of the suppression of the press under the PNC Government. He said the PPP/C has worked hard for the return of press freedom to Guyana.

“Today there are four daily newspapers, one weekly, 20 television stations, 20 radio stations, and about 10 radio stations, most of them becoming operational under the PPP/C and Journalists were allowed to ply their trade without fear.”

Rohee recalled the fiasco involving Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo over a recent Chronicle headline, for which he chastised a reporter attached to the State-owned newspaper. According to Nagamootoo, the Minister responsible for information further decided to have a “conversation” with the reporter in an effort to drive fear into operatives of the State media.

“Nagamootoo in his usual bullish attitude instructed that all headlines by Chronicle must be approved

by his office,” Rohee said. He said Governance and Patrimony Minister Raphael Trotman was also able to influence the House Speaker, Dr Barton Scotland recently to sanction the independent online news agency Citizens Report, for reporting on an article regarding Government’s use of State funds for the presidential inauguration.

He recalled the murder of Mirror Newspaper Photographer Father Darke and the banning of newsprint back in 1979, when the PNC Government was at its peak as a dictatorial government. Those, he said, are two ex-

He added that Guyana was ranked 62 out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index.

“Freedom of the press in Guyana is sacrosanct and the PPP calls on the Press Association of Guyana, the Caribbean Association of Media Workers and other organisations representing Journalists worldwide to condemn the creeping attempts at suppressing freedom of the press in Guyana.

“We call on the Granger Administration to fulfil its promise of non-interference of the media and allow Journalists to do their work in a free environment,” Rohee declared. (Guyana Times)

Guyana's President, Opposition Leader meet

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA:

President David Granger on Monday met with former President and newly elected Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo to discuss several issues affecting the country’s overall development at present.

The meeting, which appeared to be informal, took place at the President’s Office within the Ministry of Presidency at Shiv Chandrapaul Drive in Georgetown.

In a statement issued to the media, the Government said that President Granger saw the meeting as an opportunity to build strengthen the concept of inclusive governance.

He said that his administration is ready to work the opposition in areas that will benefit the Guyanese people.

President Granger also explained that he

received full support from Opposition Leader Jagdeo on the issue of defending Guyana’s territorial integrity and sovereignty when the matters were discussed briefly in connection with the spurious claims being made by Venezuela.

Also discussed at the meeting, as a matter of national interest, was the establishment of the five bi-partisan committees. These bodies are the Agriculture Committee, Budget Committee, Border Committee, National Unity Committee and a Security Committee.

President Granger is quoted as saying that “Once Mr. Jagdeo was elected Leader of the Opposition, I wrote him inviting him [inviting him] to talks, because as Leader of Opposition he has certain Constitutional obligations,” President Granger said. The Head of State added that, there

is important work that has to be completed on the packed roster of the Eleventh Parliament, which includes the 2016 Budget and support for the agriculture sector, particularly the rice and sugar industry.

Given the magnitude of these and other matters, the President said, he is pleased that the meeting happened, as it

TT President hails Kal-El

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD :

President Anthony Carmona on Monday hailed the TT’s youngestever recipient of a national award, four-year-old KalEl Joel Maxwell Alleyne as a leader in the making.

Carmona was speaking at Independence Day celebrations 2015, at the Fire Services headquarters, Wrightson Road, in Port-of-Spain.

Alleyne, who is also called “Superman” was awarded the Humming Bird Medal (Bronze) for gallantry at Monday’s Independence Awards at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s.

Alleyne of Santa Cruz was labelled a hero after climbed up a 300-foot precipice to get help for his mother and aunt who

Kal-el alleyne gives a bounce to prime minister Kamla persad-bissessar after receiving the Hummingbird medal (bronze) for bravery at monday's national awards ceremony at Queen's Hall, st ann's. Kal-el -- the name of superman when he was a boy -- is the youngest trinbagonian to receive a national award for bravery and Gallantry. the four-year old pre-schooler climbed a 300-foot precipice to get help for his trapped mother and aunt after their car ran off the north coast road to maracas in august. (TT Express photo)

is important to start the process of addressing matters of national interest.

When contacted on Monday evening, Opposition Leader Jagdeo said that the Peoples Progressive Party Civic remains open to having constructive and meaningful dialogue with the Government.

He said that while

ran off North Coast Road to Maracas on August 18. Carmona was high in praise for fire officers for “bigging up” Alleyne.

“What you all have done, you all have made a leader in him.”

“This is what, as adults we need to do. We need leaders of our young men and our young women in the communities, the villages, the towns.”

Earlier in his 17-minute speech, Carmona said there were too many “dustbin” critics in TT.

“So, the fact that a dustbin makes a lot of noise doesn’t give a dust-

he did not receive a letter and agenda in relation to, and ahead of the meeting when he was contacted by State Minister Joseph Harmon via a text message, he agreed to meet with President Granger.

The former President was under the impression that he was paying a courtesy call on the President follow-

bin depth, it may give it size but it does not necessarily give it profoundity,” Carmona said before toasting to the nation 53rd anniversary celebrations.

Carmona insisted: “That is the reality of our society.”

He said in the same way the shootouts at Walmart in America don’t define that country, “the hiccups we endure and we have to bear, they do not define us.”

Carmona said that was necessary “because at the end of the day, we all going to go down in a place 6 x 6 x 3.”

ing his appointment as Opposition Leader.

Mr Jagdeo said upon arriving at the President’s Office for the meeting, a proposed agenda was presented to him by President Granger.

He immediately committed the PPP/C to participating in the proposed Border Committee as he saw this as an important undertaking.

“I made a commitment that PPP will support any effort by the Govt to preserve Guyana’s territorial integrity”, he remarked.

Jagdeo maintained that his party remains committed to labour for a better and more united Guyana and is unwilling to engage in photo opts and meetings for saving face without addressing a gamut of issues that could jeopardize the future of the country and all of the gains made over the last two decades. (Guyana Times)

He also spoke about the young people in crime hot-spots who were dying because of engaging criminal activity.

Among those in attendance at the celebrations were Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley— who requested the Fire Services band to perform Frank Sinatra’s My Way—National Security Minister Brigadier Carl Alfonso, acting Chief Fire Officer Kenny Gopaul, and Port-of-Spain Mayor Raymond Tim Kee. (TT Guardian)

Waterless laundry system comes to the Caribbean

NE W HAMPSHIRE, USA—Xeros, the innovator of an ultralow water laundry system, announced that it has expanded its market presence into the Caribbean and Latin American hospitality, dry cleaning and commercial laundry markets with Xeros’ channel partner Worldwide Laundry, Inc Under the agreement Worldwide Laundry will sell and service Xeros’ award-winning polymer bead cleaning laundry systems which are proven to dramatically reduce water, energy and detergent consumption.

Worldwide Laundry, Inc is a full service laundry equipment, parts and supplies company with

40 years of combined experience in the distribution of on-premise, coin laundry, dry-cleaning equipment at competitive prices worldwide. Worldwide Laundry will be facilitating delivery of the Xeros solution to the broader Caribbean and Latin American markets.

Although Latin America is reported to have the most annual rainfall in the world, geography, pollution and social inequality create water scarcity issues across the region.

The Caribbean islands are some of the most vulnerable countries in the world to water shortages. The impact of climate change is expected to signifi-

cantly raise the sea level, increase salt-water intrusion, flooding and hurricanes, and decrease rainfall. Today, the islands are experiencing the worst drought conditions in 5 years.

Puerto Rico, St Lucia, and Cuba are all experiencing severe drought conditions and have implemented strict water conservation restrictions. In addition, according to Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Caribbean electricity costs are sky high with tariffs ranging between US $0.30 cents and US $0.40 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). These rates are approximately four times the average rate in North America. (Marketwired)

Uncertainty follows Guyana Gov’t’s inability to pinpoint announced Gy$23B

- rice industry in parlous

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA:

The rice industry in Guyana, which was deemed the driving force in agriculture, is now in a state of peril as rice farmers and millers throughout the country are uncertain as to their futures as a result of Government’s actions.

Over four weeks ago, rice millers had shipped 6000 tonnes of rice to Panama through the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) and are yet to be paid for this shipment.

This is according to Turhane Doerga of the Rice Producers Association Action Committee, who told Guyana Times on Monday evening that rice farmers are unhappy about the details of the abovementioned transaction.

“The rice millers need to be paid so that they can also pay the rice farmers. Until now we have not even received a letter of credit which is documented proof for the rice millers for them to receive monies for their supplies. In fact, we wrote a letter to them asking about various payments and how we will get our monies including how the recently announced Gy$23 billion for the rice industry will be disbursed,” Doerga stated.

As it relates to the Gy$23 billion for the rice industry that was announced by Finance Minister Winston Jordan in his budget presentation on August 10, the public is still confused about this declaration and speculation has already arisen as to where this money will come

state

from and when it will be given to the rice industry.

Guyana Times was further told by Doerga that there was no consultation between the rice association(s) and Government as to ‘when, how and where’ the funding would be

made available to those promised. In fact, the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Administration through the Agriculture Ministry has failed to reply to the letter(s) sent questioning the abovementioned issues.

Meanwhile, Rice Producers Association (RPA) General Secretary Dharmakumar Seeraj, in an exclusive interview, with this publication on Monday afternoon stated that there was absolutely no consultation between his organisation and the Government as to the Gy$23 billion that was posited by Minister Jordan to be allocated to the rice industry soon. He stated that he had written the Government letters on various matters and it has not yet responded or communicat-

ed with the RPA.

Guyana Times was also told that as it related to the Gy$5 billion that was reportedly given to the GRDB to pay rice farmers for paddy and rice supplied to Venezuela, some of that money would have had to come from the Consolidated Fund or from other sources.

However, if monies were taken from the Consolidated Fund to make these payments before the passing of the budget then this would be an act of illegality.

Meanwhile, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), in light of Minister Jordan’s assertions about the ‘inability’ of the PetroCaribe Fund to meet these payments, is demanding that the Administration confirm which funding source

would be utilised to finance the amount of over Gy$23 billion.

In a press statement sent by the Opposition Party on Sunday, the PPP/C said it was calling on the APNU/AFC coalition Government to reveal the funding source and explain what additional support was being provided to the rice industry from this amount of Gy$23 billion other than mere payment to farmers and millers for the rice and paddy that they produce and supply.

The PPP/C is also calling on Minister Jordan to indicate exactly what additional support was provided to the rice industry from this amount of Gy$5 billion other than mere payments to farmers and millers for the rice and paddy which they produced and supplied. (Guyana Times)

CXC launches rebranding programme

KINGSTON, JAMAICA: Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) on Monday launched its corporate rebranding programme.

"The goal of the CXC rebranding programme is to reinvigorate the CXC brand among all stakeholders with a view to consolidate CXC's position as the major market leader in the provision of internationally recognised

examination products and services, while remaining relevant to the needs of the region," the examining body said in a release on Monday.

One of the major changes to the new CXC brand is a refresh of the iconic CXC logo. The logo is not being totally changed, but rather is being enhanced to reflect a modern, ITintelligent, technologically savvy CXC.

The iconic image of the learner writing at a desk has been retained, with the learner now

EBC prints 1.2M ballot papers ahead of TT election

PORT-OFSPAIN, TRINIDAD:

The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) on Monday completed the task of the printing of about 1.2 million ballot papers ahead of the September 7 general election.

Voting is due to begin this week with more than 18,000 special voters exercising their franchise on Tuesday, ahead of the rest of the population.

Staff of the EBC on Monday supervised the printing of the last batches of the ballot papers at the premises of the Government Printery at Frederick Settlement, Caroni.

“So far there are no problems,” said the EBC chairman Dr Norbert Masson.

Special voters include: members of the Police Service, the Special Reserve Police, the Estate Police established under the Supplemental Police Act; Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, the Prison Service and the EBC; polling agents; prisoners; flight crew; hospital patients; and persons engaged in offshore petroleum operations.

Of the election process generally, Nanan noted the scope of the operation. “The preparation is a rolling process,” the Chief Elections Officer said.

It’s a lot of work. A total of 21,099 polling stations must be up and ready by next week and things have to be done such as the construction of ramps to provide access by the handicapped. And the EBC does not sleep.

Even between elections we work to maintain the voters list, which is subject to continuous registration, and to do other things like prepare jury lists.” On the printing of ballot papers, Nanan noted while the total registered electorate is 1,099,245, the EBC must prepare twenty percent more than this number in order to cater for contingencies . (TT Newsday)

using a digital device rather than pen and paper.

"What CXC and the marketing company wanted to achieve was to preserve the spirit and integrity of the old logo, but at the same time refine the new logo to reflect an organisation that is digitally ready and serving a more sophisticated and savvy customer," said Glenroy Cumberbatch, CXC registrar.

CXC said it anticipates that the rebrand-

ing will improve stakeholders' knowledge of the variety of products and services CXC offers. Traditionally, it said, CXC was viewed simply as an examination board; however, while examinations administration is CXC's core business, CXC uses its more than 40 years of experience and accumulated expertise to offer consultancy services to Governments and other agencies in a variety of areas. (Jamaica Observer)

Brand Jamaica gets big boost in Beijing, China

KINGSTON,

JAMAICA: Tourism Minister Dr Wykeham McNeill returned to Jamaica from Beijing, China on Sunday, with high praises for the nation's athletes whose exceptional performance at the 2015 IAAF World Championships not only earned Jamaica 12 medals but also had a considerable and positive impact on Brand Jamaica.

"The outstanding performance of our athletes in Beijing has had a tremendous effect on Brand Jamaica. The eyes of the world were on our athletes, especially Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann FraserPryce, and as a result there was a greater awareness about Jamaica. The promotional space which we established, dubbed Jamaica House Beijing, provided the opportunity to leverage the popularity of Jamaica's athletes to market our destination," said Minister McNeill.

McNeill and Director of Tourism Paul Pennicook were in Beijing for five days to participate in activities aimed at marketing destination Jamaica during the IAAF World Championships,

which ended Sunday. While in Beijing, McNeill and Pennicook met with leading travel and tourism stakeholders to explore opportunities to benefit the island's tourism sector and increase

visitor arrivals from Asia, including representatives from Air China, Hainan Airlines, China Travel Service, Caissa and American Airlines.

The senior tourism officials also attended a number of Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) promotional events to market Jamaica and further strengthen the links between China and Jamaica. This included the very popular JTB-hosted Jamaica House Beijing, which sought to capitalise on the global focus on the Jamaica track and field team at the major sporting event.

"We saw scores of persons, including tour operators, travel agents and media, visiting Jamaica House Beijing each evening to enjoy our culture, food and music, and also to do business," said McNeill, underscoring the winning Jamaica House concept which was used to great success at the 2012 London Olympics, the IAAF World

Championships Moscow 2013, and the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

As part of its strategy to attract visitors from the immense Chinese visitor market, in February 2014, the Jamaican Government approved the conditional waiving of visa requirements for Chinese nationals travelling to Jamaica for tourism purposes for periods of 30 days or less.

In April this year, a world cruise tour by the Costa Atlantica saw some 1,000 Chinese visitors arrive in Ocho Rios, the single largest number of Chinese visitors to arrive in the island ever via cruise.

The JTB said on Monday that it is planning followup meetings with Chinese tour operators and travel agents with whom they interfaced during the four days of Jamaica House Beijing promotions. (Jamaica Observer)

Decline in Trinis travelling to Barbados

PORT-OF-SPAIN,

TRINIDAD:

TT remains the largest regional source market of visitors to Barbados, although statistics are showing a steady decline in TT to Barbados travel over the past three years. Vicky Chandler, director for Caribbean and Latin American Region at Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc, said since 2012, travel has been dipping. Experts in Barbados say this is due

to the slump in the global economy. Still, figures tabulated for international travellers placed TT as the island’s fourth largest source market.

In a TT media interview, Chandler said the Crop Over Festival was

still a major draw for TT nationals travelling to Barbados. “In 2014, Crop Over generated Bds$96 million. Unfortunately, the Trinidad expenditure numbers are captured under the Caricom head count. However, in 2014, Caricom nationals spent on average USD$181.84, ranking them as higher spenders on average than visitors from the United States and Canada for that period,” she said.

“This year, like the past several years, we have seen an increase in the synergies and collaborations between private sector Barbadian companies and TT companies, as well as our linkages between our cul-

ture ministry and your ministry of the Arts and Multiculturalism.”

While interest in travel to Barbados usually spikes at the end of July— the end of Crop Over with Grand Kadooment— Chandler insisted that festival was more than just the Carnival. She explained that the Carnival aspect is a much larger event which spans three months and focuses on history and heritage.

“When it comes to the party element and the actual Carnival the bonds are closer. We have lots of companies from Barbados that are involved in events at Carnival (in TT) and likewise I believe there

are several TT companies that are involved in our Crop Over Festival. At the end of the day, we cannot be static with what we do. You may as well lie down and die! Everything has to evolve and we look at the synergies and maximize the positives in it all.” Chandler said the partnerships are good for the region and expressed surprise it didn’t happen sooner. “If it is working, then there is a reason for that. There is a demand for it. It will reach the point naturally when it is enough or it has to evolve again. TT is the number one market for visitors to Barbados regionally,” she said. (TT Guardian)

Surujbally wants electronic tabulation of LGE results in Guyana

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA:

Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally said he would like to see electronic tabulation employed during the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE), even if it was in an exploratory way.

He told Guyana Times during a brief phone interview on Monday that electronic tabulation was one of the peripheral suggestions submitted to the Government for review.

“I would like to see electronic tabulation be put in place even if only exploratory,” he stated.

Several observer missions that came to overlook the General and Regional Elections in 2015 had recommended in their reports that GECOM move to electronic tabulation in the interest of time and efficiency.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had already raised the issue

of moving to electronic voting entirely the next time Guyanese went to the polls.

In fact, Jagdeo already indicated to a visiting delegation of the US Congress that GECOM should move in this direction.

Moreover, in relation to the hosting of LGE, Dr Surujbally indicated that it would be difficult at this point to determine when Guyanese could go to the polls.

“If the things that I illuminated are not addressed, then of course we will not have it, but if they are done, then of course, we will have it. But again, that would be speculation…so let’s see, let’s see if all of the things, like for example the changes in the laws, if they will be there or if we find that there are certain technical matters relative to the printing of ballot papers, if that can be done…there are several other things that I listed and are necessary, but some of them are peripheral,” he stated.

GECOM, in a release to the media, explained that it could not move forward with its agenda unless the Government made the necessary amendments to several pieces legislation required for the hosting of these elections.

The statement noted that the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield made it abundantly clear that the elections body could not proceed to prepare a Preliminary List of

Voters for the conduct of Claims and Objections for the purpose of finalising the respective Registers of Voters that would be necessary to conduct LGE in the 65 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and the six Municipalities in Guyana unless Government completed the amendment.

When confronted on the issue, Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan expressed his belief that the legislative amendments were not significantly impinging GECOM’s work and that Government was still waiting on advice from the Commission regarding the announcement of a date for the LGE.

In this vein, Bulkan assured that GECOM indicated that the December 7 date was not in jeopardy, even amid the holdups and delays.

When questioned about the December 7 date, Dr Surujbally made it clear that he was not in the business of speculation. (Guyana Times)

Nine communities declared special disaster areas in storm-ravaged Dominica - World Bank to assess damage

ROSEAU, DOMINICA:

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has declared nine special disaster areas in the wake of destruction and death caused by Topical Strom Erika.

In an update to the nation on Sunday night, he said Bath Estate (specifically Paradise Valley), Dubique, Petite Savanne, Campbell, Coulibistrie, Pichelin, Petite Soufriere, Good Hope and San Sauveur were designated disaster areas after broad consultation, and on the advice of the coordinator of the Office of Disaster Management.

He said the designation was necessary “in light of the relative severity in the loss of life and damage to property and the need for focused response, rehabilitation, and recovery”.

“The government, along with its regional and International partners, public and private sector, and civil society, is fully engaged in immediate response with a view to quick rehabilitation and recovery,” Skerrit said.

Dominica was severely impacted late Wednesday and Thursday by Tropical Storm Erika which dumped 10 inches of

rain on the island over a six-hour period between, flooding the Eastern Caribbean nation.

At least 20 people have been confirmed dead and more than two dozen are still missing.

Rivers overflowed, streets were turned into waterways, and there was extensive damage to infrastructure, with the main DouglasCharles Airport, the road networks, electricity, water, and telecommunication services among the affected.

Skerrit continued his tours to get a first-hand look at the damage on Sunday. (Caribbean360)

PM to undecided voters: TT needs people with experience

PORT-OFSPAIN, TRINIDAD:

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is urging undecided voters to stick with her experienced slate of candidates since they have the capacity to weather the tough economic times TT currently faces.

While she welcomed the new and fresh faces on the People’s National Movement’s (PNM) slate to the campaign trail, Persad-Bissessar said now was not the time to “take a chance” on someone new.

“Given the troubled waters with falling oil prices, now is not the time to give a chance to somebody to try something,” Persad-Bissessar declared as she addressed supporters on Friday night at Cumuto Recreation Ground, Rochard Douglas Road, Barrackpore.

Eager supporters waved flags and cheered loudly.

The PNM, she said,

threw out its candidates who have “the experience to run a government” and opted for fresh faces. She said what the country needs at this time was people who can steer the economy through the economic challenges of falling oil prices.

“We cannot make that mistake to give them a chance to try a thing, not in these times. You have to ask the big question: Will they have the experience and the capacity to steer the ship in these economic times?”

Persad-Bissessar also announced that she will turn the sod next week for construction of the TT$6 billion Mitsubishi dimethyl ether (DME) and methanol project in La Brea.

She urged voters, who are yet to make up their mind, to think hard about the choice they have to make because it is not only their future, but the future of TT that depends on them. (TT Guardian)

Guyana Gov’t refuses to consider BBCI’s cash flow challenges

GEORGETOWN,

GUYANA: Due to Government’s apparent reluctance to honour requests made by the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI), the toll reductions will not take effect today, September 1 as had been promised by the Finance Minister, Winston Jordan.

The Bridge Company is asking that the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) Administration adhere to the legally binding Concession Agreement between the Government of Guyana and the BBCI which outlines the Toll Formula in which the fees for commuters crossings should be adjusted periodically.

The Company simply advised that any agreement to subsidise the BBCI without honouring the toll adjustment formula set out in the Concession Agreement will result in it defaulting on its obligation to repay debt in 2015 and result in possible insolvency.

However, Government, in a press release issued to the media on Monday, said that it would not approve of such an “unreasonable charge”.

“There now appears to be other forces who want to use the Government as a compensatory mechanism for a faulty investment model of the Berbice Bridge, one that seeks to impose a further 55 per cent increase in tolls on an already suffering population. Such an unreasonable charge will not be countenanced by our Government,” Finance Minister Jordan stated in the release.

The Finance Minister is holding out that unlike what

has been stated by BBCI, the Company would not suffer any losses since the government would pay the Company the difference between what is now charged and the reduced charge – in effect a subsidy to the commuters. However, the Minister did not provide any information to validate his assertion.

He argued that the public was being inconvenienced and urged the Company to move swiftly to reduce the tolls so as to remove the “burden” on the people of Guyana.

The Bridge Company explained, however, that because of the then APNU and AFC Opposition’s successful motion passes to lower the tolls in the 10th Parliament – at a time when the Company had to begin repaying the principal on

one tranche of its bonds – the PPPC government has not approved for adjusting the toll structure. Consequently, the Company faced tremendous pressures in meeting its financial commitments. Dividends to the preferred shareholder NIS were deferred and as in every year of the Bridge’s operations no dividend was paid to ordinary shareholders. The Company explained that the increase in the demand for cash was supposed to have been met by the increases in the tolls – as set out in the legal agreement.

The Company then explained that in 2015, another Gy$500 million in bond principal debt repayment to investors is required; therefore, the reduction in the tolls, even with Government’s subsidy at

the present rate would not allow for the BBCI to meet its obligations and plunge it into bankruptcy.

Since it began its operations, reports indicate that the common shareholders of the Berbice Bridge have never received a single dollar in dividends on their Gy$400 million investment over the past eight years.

Meanwhile, Government, in its release, said the Bridge Company made some inaccurate statements regarding the toll reductions. The Minister insisted that the Company would not be enduring any reductions, but rather, will continue to receive the full amount of the current approved toll, only now a part would be met by the Government.

Secondly, the Finance Minister denied committing his Government to make way for further discussions on the compromise proposal to extend the concessions period from 21 years to 40 years instead of the increase in tolls –requests which were made to the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Administration on March 15.

“Contrary to that assertion, my record of the meeting indicates that I restated the intention of the Government to facilitate lower tolls for users of the Bridge to bring some relief to the people of Regions 5 and 6.

“Mr Ravi Ramcharitar, who led the Company’s team, which included Director Bert Carter and the Company’s CEO and Finance Manager, responded that the Company was not opposed to the decision by the Government, but that the announcement coincided with the need for the Company to have a toll increase,” the Finance Minister said.

He added that an application was made to the PPP/C Government, but no response was forthcoming. It was at that stage that “Ramcharitar presented me with a copy of an incomplete copy (without the attachments referred to in the letter) of the letter of March 15, 2015” the Minister stated. The Directors of BBCI have indicated that because of their fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders, debt holders and their trustee, they have to be guided by their decision and have to meet them to decide on a way forward apart from the contracted agreement between the BBCI and the GoG. (Guyana Times)

As country celebrates 53rd Independence Anniversary 15

PORT-OFSPAIN, TRINIDAD:

Hundreds of people dressed in their red, white and black on Monday flocked to the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-ofSpain to witness firsthand, the parade of uniformed troops to mark TT’s 53rd Anniversary of being an independent nation .

The Grand Stand was packed to capacity with many standing on the sides. On the eastern side of the stands were dozens of people, many with umbrellas in hand, trying to shield from the blazing sun.

The parade which started a few minutes after 8 am, featured an inspection of the parade by President Anthony Carmona, a march past, a fly past, a drive past

and then a trot past.

During his inspection, Carmona waved, beat his chest twice and put up two fingers, showing the peace sign. He did this several times which the crowd loved as they cheered him on.

During the march past, when the women police marched on, the announcer shared that this year marked the 60th year of women in the police service. Those in the stands stood up and gave the women a standing ovation.

Then came the fly pass with many hoping for an impressive display.

However, only two helicopters from the National Operations Centre (NOC) flew past.

The announcer explained that the Air Guard did not partici-

pate this year because they were currently assisting Dominica in recovery and relief efforts following severe flooding caused by Tropical Storm Erika on Wednesday last.

Following the helicopters was the drive past which showcased the assets of the Defence Force, the Coast Guard, the Police and Prisons.

Always a crowd pleaser was the Fire Service’s drive past, which showcased its different fire tenders, vans and sky lift. One child could be heard shouting, “Fire trucks, look mummy fire trucks.” Another highlight for those in attendance was the trot past by the members of the Mounted Branch of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.

The Mounted Branch officers and horses were

cheered on by the crowd as they went through their various formations.

Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar, wearing a red fascinator with a red, black and white plaid top and a red skirt, looked on and applauded at the presentation before her.

Also in attendance was Her Excellency Reema Carmona — wife of President Carmona, as well as Chief Justice Ivor Archie, his wife Denise and their children Sean and Chinyere. The parade ended with a 21-gun salute while the national anthem was played for a second time. Speaking to TT media, some of the spectators said they enjoyed the parade and could not wait for next year. Lincoln Rampersad

said it was his first time and he enjoyed it but does not think he will come back next year.

“I really enjoyed it but I don’t think I’ll do this again. I think once you see it once, you don’t have to come to the Savannah to see it again. I’ll just watch it on TV,” he said.

And in Tobago, hundreds lined the streets of Scarborough braving the morning sun to take up vantage points to catch a glimpse of the parade there.

The event, which began at 8am, came off with military precision overseed by Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Orville London at the Dwight Yorke Stadium.

The parade ended at the Gardenside car park in Scarborough. (TT Newsday)

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Canadian boy shot dead in St Andrew

KINGSTON, JAMAICA: A 15-year-old boy was shot dead by unknown assailants early Sunday morning in White Lane, St Andrew. He is Ricardo Williams. The Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Corporate Communications Unit told the media that Ricardo is from Ontario, Canada. According to reports, residents discovered Williams’ body with gunshot wounds about 1:51 am and rushed him to hospital. He was pronounced dead. The police did not provide further details, but said investigations are now under way. (Jamaica Observer)

93 graduate from Guyana-Cuba medical scholarship programme

…had been initiated by fmr President Jagdeo

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA:

After completing their time in the Guyana-Cuba Medical Scholarship Programme, which had been initiated by former President Bharrat Jagdeo, 93 students graduated on Saturday at a ceremony held at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre in Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

The graduates took the Hippocratic Oath, which was administered by Minister within the Public Health Ministry, Dr Karen Cummings.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, delivering his address at the ceremony, said he looked forward to the continuation of the programme.

“We are proud to inherit this programme and in …many years to come, it will be stronger,” Minister Harmon said.

He praised the graduates and mentioned that the local health care sector has been given a further boost with the addition of the newly trained doctors.

The Minister told the graduates that they have completed their studies at a very important juncture in Guyana’s history. He further stated that a key element of this commitment was the delivery of health-

care services, as it was the Administration’s belief that citizens in the hinterland and in the rural coastal communities are entitled to the same quality of services and facilities that are available in the urban centres. This graduation, Minister Harmon said, reflects the good friendship and cordial relations which exist between Cuba and Guyana. He pointed out that from the time Guyana and other Caribbean countries established diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1972, Guyana and Cuba

have remained firm friends and have shared cooperation in many areas.

Minister of Public Health, Dr George Norton, who himself had benefited from this training programme, in his charge to the graduates, urged the new batch of doctors not to see their graduation as the end, but the beginning of much more to come as he noted that it was his belief that service delivery required continued training.

Also present at the prestigious occasion was Cuba’s Ambassador,

J’can Gov't remains committed to combating human trafficking

KINGSTON, JAMAICA:

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Major General Stewart Saunders, has reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to safeguarding Jamaica against human trafficking.

“The Government of Jamaica is fully cognisant of its obligations locally and internationally to do the utmost to combat human trafficking on all fronts,” he assures.

The permanent secretary was speaking at the opening of a border control training seminar, hosted by the National Taskforce against Trafficking in Persons, at the Courtleigh Hotel in Kingston, on Friday.

Major General Saunders said the seminar’s staging was indicative of the administration’s ongoing work to safeguard Jamaica’s citizens and other nationals, deemed vulnerable to human trafficking, as well as apprehend and prosecute perpetrators of this heinous crime.

Pivotal to this focus, he added, is the training of highly skilled frontline workers and responders, who are able to readily detect and handle incidence of human trafficking.

Taskforce Chair, Carol Palmer told the participants that the onus is on them, as protectors of the nation’s borders, to remain alert and prevent human traffickers from carrying out their activities in

Jamaica.

In noting that human traffickers often resort to deception to avoid detection, Ms. Palmer said the seminar was intended to assist in sharpening the participants’ skills to “detect, even in the slightest, something that is not so right.”

“It is…this training that will help you to get behind that farce that they set up to trick us,” the Chair said.

Palmer further encouraged them to be fearless in the face of this serious crime which she noted is very “intimidating.”

The seminar’s participants included representatives from the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) Coast Guard; immigration officers and members of the Investigation and Surveillance Unit, Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA); customs officers, Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA); and representatives of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Unit, Counter-Terrorism and Organized Crime Investigation Branch.

The session served to sensitise and train participants on how to adequately and effectively identify and respond to trafficking in person cases, thereby triggering the necessary investigative and victim services protocols.

Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery involving the transfer of persons by means of force or coercion, and usually involves payments or benefits to persons facilitating it. (JIS)

Julio Cesar Gonsalez Marchante, who offered his congratulations to the new doctors. He said it was the conviction of both Governments that resulted in their success.

“All of you had the opportunity to study and now you have the opportunity to save human beings and raise the quality of life for your people,” he told the new batch of doctors.

The Ambassador also thanked the various entities who played a role in making training of the doctors successful as he pledged Cuba’s continued support to improv-

ing Guyana’s health care system.

This latest batch of doctors began their training in 2008, spending six years in Cuba. They returned last year after a one-year training at medical institutions around the country. To date, Guyana and Cuba have facilitated training for 2600 medical doctors, most of whom were trained under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration.

The Governments of Guyana/Cuba Specialist Awards Scholarship Programme was estab-

lished following a visit to the sister Caribbean State by former President Bharrat Jagdeo in 2001. President Jagdeo secured the scholarships in various disciplines, after meeting with the then President Fidel Castro. The scholarships are offered in Medicine, Engineering, Technology, Telecommunications, Agriculture, Sport and Culture.

The then President had specified that every batch of students must include Amerindians, since the scholarships are for all Guyanese students who qualify. Under the scholarship programme, the students sent by the Government of Guyana are given a stipend of Cdn$50 per month. They also have the guidance of a Students Affairs Officer in Cuba appointed by the Government. The students are expected to serve the Government for five years on their return.

Many young people have become qualified for scholarships given improved performances at both the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) level. (Guyana Times)

Biden praises TT’s stance on disabled

PORT-OFSPAIN, TRINIDAD:

United States Vice President Joe Biden has praised Trinidad and Tobago for ratifying a United Nations convention of the rights of persons with disabilities.

“As the United States marks the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we applaud Trinidad and Tobago for ratifying in June of this year the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” Biden said in an Independence Day greeting released by the US Embassy in Port-ofSpain.

“Our two nations are united in the belief that diversity and social inclusion make our societies stronger.” The remarks came hours after Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, at a televised town meeting at Aranjuez on Thursday

night, said the State was drafting legislation on new standards which would draw upon the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

At a Rotary Club luncheon on Tuesday, Persad-Bissessar had said State officials were liaising with John Wojciechowski, who played a role in the formulation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In his greeting, Biden said this year has been a historic time of bilateral and regional engage-

ment for both the United States and Trinidad and Tobago, citing moves for measures to bring about Caribbean energy security.

“President Obama’s visit to the region generated great momentum in our joint efforts to promote economic growth and opportunity and engage our youth through academic and cultural exchanges,” the US vice president said.

“The Caribbean Energy Security Initiative provided a new forum for the U.S. and Trinidad and Tobago, together with other Caribbean nations’ regional bodies, to address the persistent energy challenges confronting the region. Our cooperation through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative is also helping to counter transnational crime, while strengthening communication and increasing the sharing of best practices on a broad range of issues.” (TT Newsday)

OMI parties like its 1989 with Taylor Swift

KINGSTON, JAMAICA:

Billboard chart-topper OMI's celebrity continues to grow. The Jamaican singer shared a stage with country star Taylor Swift on Saturday at Petco Park in San Diego, California, the latest leg of her 1989 Tour.

Prefacing his stint, Swift spoke glowingly of the Clifton 'Specialist' Dillion protégé.

"He could be absolutely anywhere in the world tonight, [but] he chose to be in San Diego, California," she proclaimed. The statement was met with screams from 50,000 fans.

OMI entered the stage through a trapdoor wearing his signature sunglasses and hat. His performance of his massive hit 'Cheerleader' elicited the

obligatory sing-a-long from the crowd.

Following the concert, Swift tweeted: "Thank you @omimusiconline for singing Cheerleader tonight in San Diego!! You're amazing': #1989toursandiego". Omi replied: "@taylorswift13 it was amazing singing with you tonight! Thanks again for inviting me :) #1989TourSanDiego".

OMI joins an impeccable list of guest performers on the 1989 Tour. Avril Lavigne, Justin Timberlake, John Legend, Alanis Morissette, Mary J Blige, and the Dixie Chick's Natalie Maines have made appearances.

OMI is currently number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, for the sixth week, with Cheerleader. (Jamaica Observer)

Warapana adds to Guyana pre-history

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA: U.S. and Guyanese anthropologist/archaeologist Mark G. Plew and Louisa B. Daggers, respectively, recently made an exciting discovery in the Warapana area of the country.

Warapana is located at Akawini Creek, on a hillock some 1,500 meters from Warapana Creek off the Pomeroon River. The area is heavily forested with high canopy and some mangrove, including evidence of farming, which extends into the forest.

The coastal plain of north-western Guyana is characterized by a number of Archaic-age shell mounds. The mounds, which are accumulations of shell refuse, served as living areas and as places for burials.

On the basis of new discoveries and recent radiocarbon dates, the pre-

area of investigation

history of Guyana may be broadly divided into three major periods. The first, dating from at least 12,000 years ago and perhaps much earlier, is the Paleo-Indian period associated with the end of the last great Ice Age and the hunting of large animals such as the giant ground sloth.

During this time, early people appear to have intruded into and through southern Guyana as they moved into north-eastern Brazil. Little is known of these people except that they produced well-crafted triangular-bladed projectiles sometimes made from quartz.

As modern conditions

mammals.

An initial survey indicated that the shell scatter covered an area of little more than 30x30 meters. It is evident that there was significant amount of previous digging into the area. The team also observed considerable animal burrowing in these areas, which was taken to reflect disturbed sediment. There were also findings of a human scapula (shoulder blade), clavicle (collarbone), and sacrum (triangular-shaped bone at the bottom of the spine) fragment at the site.

The remains of one and or possible two individuals were recovered,

appeared, some 7,000 years ago, the second period associated with the first Meso-Indian or Archaic hunter-gatherers appeared on the northwest coastland and in the Rupununi savannah (Plew 2005; Williams 2004, Plew and Daggers 2015).

Upon arrival at Warapana it became immediately obvious to Plew, Daggers and their team that the site is not in the strict sense a shell mound. The site appears to be a short term use of the location in which shellfish were processed in conjunction with the harvest of fish and small

though it is not certain if they are contemporaneous with the aboriginal use of the site area. Functionally, the site appears to have been little more than a short-term shellfish processing station. Though shellfish are the primary target species in the diet breadth of the region, the team noted the presence of small to medium sized mammals and the remains of large fish.

The findings are being studied by Daggers and her team. (Excerpted from text by Louisa B. Daggers

Guyana)

ArAtAk: HeritAge Vill Age 2015

Celebrating Guyana’s Amerindian Heritage Month

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA: Every year, during the Amerindian Heritage Month celebrations, a “heritage village” is identified, where many would converge to celebrate the indigenous cultural heritage of that village. This year we celebrate Aratak,ascenic village in Region Three.

About 45 minutes upstream the Kumuni Creek, Aratak village is inhabited by a few houses filled with families of about two and four. These families are related to each other and are relatively self-suffi-

cient, with poultry and fruits farms. The yards are opened and not fenced. It feels like walking through one big yard

with houses.

Residents say Aratak existed hundreds of years ago and was passed down from generation to generation.

Aratak is the closet Amerindian village to the capital city. From Aratak, the adventure continues to Santa Mission which is about 15 minutes away. Santa Mission was established in 1858 say residents, and has a health care centre, a craft shop, a school and a few houses. About 15 minutes away from Santa Mission are Timberhead and few minutes away from that is Arrowpoint.

Panorama line-up of international films for TT Film festival

PORT-OF-SPAIN,

TRINIDAD: Twenty five feature-length films from world cinema will screen at the 2015 trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff), which takes place from September 15 - 19.

This section of films, known as the Panorama section, is comprised of fiction films and documentaries from around the world, including Trinidad and Tobago’s “heritage” countries and regions, which include India, Africa, Europe, China and the Middle East. There will also be films from Latin America and the USA, and—for the first time—Mauritius.

The lineup includes many prestigious titles from the international film festival circuit.

One such film is the Indian legal drama Court, directed by Chaitanya Tamhane, which had a prizewinning premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

Also screening will be the Kenyan LGBTthemed portmanteau drama Stories of Our Lives, directed by Jim Chuchu.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and subsequently screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, both to great acclaim, said a media release from ttff.

Another acclaimed Berlin selection, Anna Muylaert’s Brazilian domestic-worker comedy- drama The Second Mother, will screen at ttff/15. So to will Zhou Hao’s The Chinese Mayor, a political documentary that bowed at the Sundance Film Festival.

Amy, Asif Kapadia’s Cannes-

premiering study of the life and death of British singer Amy Winehouse, is also a ttff/15 selection.

And Tales of the Grim Sleeper, acclaimed documentarian Nick Broomfield’s investigation of the crimes of a serial killer in Los Angeles, will be presented at the ttff/15 by Broomfield himself, who will lead a masterclass at the festival.

All of these films, and most of the others in the Panorama section, will be making their Caribbean premiere at the ttff/15.

For the full lineup, visit www. ttfilmfestival.com.

These films are added to the lineup already announced for the ttff/15: the opening night film (Haitian documentary Sweet Micky for President) and the feature-length and short Caribbean films screening in and out of competition.

The ttff celebrates films from and about the Caribbean and its diaspora, as well as from world cinema, through an annual festival and yearround screenings.

In addition, the ttff seeks to facilitate the growth of Caribbean cinema by offering a wide-ranging industry programme and networking opportunities.

The ttff is presented by Flow and given leading sponsorship by bpTT , and supporting sponsorship by RBC Royal Bank, The National Gas Company, National Lotteries Control Board, Ministry of the Arts and Multiculturalism, the Embassy of the United States of America and FilmTT. (TT Newsday)

The community members in Aratak are of Arawak descent. The village currently has about 36 residents.

The village’s Toshao, Aubrey Samuels, said that there persons can look forward to many activities during the celebrations at the heritage village. He noted that this is the second time around that Aratak was selected as the host heritage village; it had been selected in 2008.

Samuels noted that the day of celebration for the village would include the harvesting of the Tacoma worms and the launching, for the first time in Guyana, of an international trail marathon, with more than 70 participants from every region in Guyana, the Caribbean, Canada, U.S., Brazil, and Suriname, with hopes that two participants from Kenya will join.

The toshao added

that the persons who have already signed up for this event range from ages 17 to 70.

A day filled with nutritious pear (avocado) eating, sightseeing and swimming in cold black water in Aratak is indeed a true escape from the often jaded concrete jungle.

The Heritage Village activities are scheduled for September 15. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

An Evening of fine Jamaican Cuisines

KINGSTON,

JAMAICA: The landscaped grounds of the historic Rose Hall Great House were transformed into a veritable wonderland of culinary delight Saturday last, as the Montego Bay Chapter of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) hosted 'An Evening of Fine Jamaican Cuisines,' its fifth annual marquee fund-raiser for supporting education.

Patronised by the stylish set of the west, the evening's fare featured a variety of sumptuous dishes meticulously prepared by executive chefs from the resort belt of St James and Hanover.

Elegant food booths were mounted by Sandals Resorts, Half Moon, Round Hill, Tryall Club, Hilton Rose Hall, Coyaba Beach Resort, Holiday Inn, Kenilworth HEART Academy, Grand Palladium, Royalton White Sands, RIU Montego Bay, Goddard Catering Group and Smith & Stewart Ice Cream (Crazy Jim).

J Wray and Nephew kept the cocktails flowing with Appleton and Skyy Vodka mixes with Pure Country juices and Wisynco-supplied chasers and, of course, 'WATA' (OMG! The heat was on). Caribbean Producers Jamaica (CPJ) provided excellent wine choices that complemented the tasty food offerings from each booth.

The chefs took the opportunity to showcase their creativity and produced some truly versatile pairings such

as the chicken and bean cake topped with jackfruit relish, lobster and chicken run-upand- down from Hilton Hotel, the bacon-wrapped jerk sausage-stuffed pork loin from Half Moon, a Rock Resort, and other sumptuous delights. Patrons were clearly impressed with the offerings, as each booth enjoyed steady traffic and enthusiastic nods of approval. The Sandals Royal Caribbean and Royalton booths provided todie-for dessert creations using chocolate, mango, guava and pineapple.

While providing patrons with the opportunity to enjoy the culinary genius of some of the best chefs this side of the Rock, the event was in support of a worthy cause, with proceeds going towards JHTA community outreach initiatives.

Beneficiaries included the Save the Child Programme, in which one child is removed from the streets and assisted with school expenses.

House #10 at the SOS Children's Village in Barrett

Town also received assistance.

A total of eight scholarships of Ja$30,000 each were awarded to top performers in the recent GSAT examinations.

The MoBay Hope Learning Centre for physically challenged children is the newest project that has been identified; proceeds from this year's staging will assist with renovation of the existing building with plans to build an additional structure to comfortably accommodate the students.

The JHTA has spent in excess of Ja$2m to renovate the Tower Hill Basic School and donated over Ja$400,000 to the St James Police to assist with Labour Day projects across the parish.

After all the gastronomical delights, DJ Gemini from Island Beatz Entertainment brought a party atmosphere to the proceedings -- perfect for those who indulged way too much and needed to 'work off' the inevitable calories. (Jamaica Observer)

PORT-OFSPAIN, TRINIDAD:

Business partners

Kathryn Inniss and Oriana Sabga recently launched a new cosmetic line, Lunar Mar, on the local market described as vibrant, high quality and projecting a true exotic aura of Caribbean life.

As long-time friends who have many things in common, and who have always had a passion for make-up and cosmetics, the women came together to work on this project which they say was born out of the desire to create safe, beautiful and trendy makeup for the mix of cultures and skin tones throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.

Says Inniss: “We de-

cided to create our own make-up line, experimented and came out with products for all kinds of people around the world…what started with a casual conversation and some research, led to a dream becoming a reality, named for the “Moon and Sea (Luna Mar).” “Our focus is on creating product lines using high quality ingredients that produce outstanding cosmetics for all skin types. There is no age limit and the product can be used on basically all skin tones. Our range of colours and product lines provides a great deal of variety for all,” they say.

The cosmetic formulas are worked on by both women and a chemist in Trinidad who, over the last three years, has

provided guidance and training in the art of make-up and cosmetics creation.

The brand is local to Trinidad and Tobago and all the testing and packaging is done locally.

“However, at this time, due to the high

quality requirements, we send our makeup formulas to the USA and they (agents) are able to manufacture the product for us within a manageable time frame.” “As much as possible, we try to create products that are not only made with

high quality ingredients but that are also good for your skin. Several of our products are made from natural ingredients such as minerals.

We also have products that are cruelty free, vegan-friendly and paraben-free,” says Inniss.

Lunar Mar was launched at the The Shop, Normandie in St Ann’s, recently, where Charisse Parsons — owner of ‘The Shop’ — herself told of an “ambitious plan” to accommodate 70 top entrepreneurs with a vision to retail all things local in the space.

Luna Mar has the distinct honour of being the first cosmetic brand and the 71st entrepreneur.

After guests were warmly welcomed by two beautifully gowned Ciroc

vodka ambassadors serving cocktails, and then, formally by Sean Boswell Inniss on behalf of the business partners, Inniss gave thanks for the support and encouragement to both herself and Sabga.

“We are truly honoured and humbled. Thank all of you here. Your support and encouragement mean a great deal to us. We acknowledge the amazing people who helped us reach to this point,” she said. With the project being the brainchild of these two young mothers, they both boast of “strong marketing and sales backgrounds, having worked for corporate companies both locally and internationally. (TT Newsday)

Training indigenous scientists in Guyana

By Matt Hallett

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA:

Indigenous people in Guyana have been managing the resources of the interior for millennia. Many believe that Guyana’s interior wilderness is rich and vast because it is largely uninhabited, but anyone who has travelled deep into its forests and seen signs of old farms, old camps, and ancient balata trees with scars from the rubber tapping days, knows that these are lands that have long been used by interior communities, but not overused.

Large tracts of intact forest and savannah, pristine rivers, and tremendous biodiversity that remain in Guyana’s interior is not there in spite of its people, it is there because of them. Indigenous communities have long maintained these resources through traditional resource management and cultural taboos that ensured that resources were not exhausted, by keeping a constant eye towards the needs of future generations.

But as our world

changes, Guyana’s interior is being confronted with new challenges. A globalized world has increased access to awareness of existing resources. New technologies allow us to harvest resources more efficiently than ever before. Decreasing resources across the globe increase the value of standing resources, thus increasing the pressure to harvest them.

People are changing too. Consumerism is rapidly growing – more people want more stuff and fewer people have the desire to commit to subsistence lifestyles. Those who retain knowledge of species from hunting, farming, and fishing have it exploited by those who wish to commercially harvest resources for short-term gain. Traditional beliefs and management systems are losing followers as people are exposed to new information and different points of view.

But it is not all bad –new challenges also create new opportunities.

Developing indigenous scientists would provide communities with the tools that they need to maintain their resourc-

es in a changing world. Scientific research is simply a means for systematically and methodically answering questions about the world around us. Indigenous hunters, farmers and fishermen have long been valued as assets to visiting researchers seeking to study a variety of species.

Researchers bring years of training in a reliable and systematic method for answering questions in the scientific method, along with tools and technology to make collecting data more efficient.

Local hunters, farmers and fishermen bring years of experience and an intricate understanding of species and habitats, including the location and abundance of important resources and how they vary across time and space.

When allowed to work together, in the right environment, on an equal playing field, these collaborations can generate unique and exciting in-

sights that neither could have achieved on its own.

One such effort, the Rupununi Wildlife Research Unit, (RWRU) has been training indigenous hunters, farmers, and fisherman from across the Rupununi with the goal of generating a greater understanding of the distribution and abundance of large mammals in the region.

Large mammals are the focus of this work as they are of interest to both local and global partners. Globally, large mammals are naturally rare, play important roles in ecosystems, are sensitive to disturbance, and are the majestic and regal or cute and cuddly animals that we all love.

Camera traps (basically digital cameras in a protective case that are triggered by motion), help work around this issue as they can be left in the field for extended periods of time, constantly collecting data, and don’t have any of the noise or smell of hu-

man presence.

Bringing together the traditional and scientific in this way has allowed

questions to setting and checking camera traps and processing data.

Support is provided for data analysis and results are shared directly back with participating communities through presentations, reports, and digital and social media.

The end result is a process that communities helped design and execute that provides support for decision making that may impact this and future generations. In this respect, incorporating western science helps accomplish the same goal as traditional management systems in the face of demands from a rapidly changing world.

Our belief is that empowering local scientists to develop and answer their

the RWRU to generate a wealth of data and address questions that they did not even know they had when they began this effort.

Interested parties from partner sites are given the opportunity to receive training, become a member of the team, and contribute at every level of research: from determining locally relevant research

own questions and generating data that can be applied to decision making about natural resources will help ensure that the amazing resources of the Rupununi are sustained for many millennia to come. For more information, visit Rupununi Wildlife Research Unit on Facebook. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

Reclaiming Resort Wear

KINGSTON, JAMAICA:

Fashion cognoscenti have long looked to the Caribbean for inspiration where ateliers create designs that would not be completely out of sync with what's hitting the runways in Paris or Milan for the Resort 2016 collections. At the recently-wrapped Caribbean Fashion Week, our designers sent bold ethnic prints and soft

airy fabric along with a mash-up of animal and Aztec prints, chic chiffon threads and colourful designs (some of which were even hand-painted) down the runways. From James Black's precise cuts and Yvonne Jewnell's printastic threads to flora/botanicals from Vain Glory, and structured yet feminine pieces from Yesa!, (Jamaica Observer)

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD:

Tobagonian director/filmmaker Kyle Walcott's short film Glass Bottom Boat explores themes of love and loss, as it tells the story of Janet Wells, a US woman who travelled to Tobago and fell in love. The film will be shown on September 16 as part of the CaribbeanTales International Film Festival (CTFF) in Toronto.

Walcott, 22, said his film was originally destined to be about sex tourism in Tobago, until he met Wells and heard her story. “You have a lot of foreign women who come and find local men just for sex but then you also have persons who genuinely find love and have great lives after coming to the island. So this was essentially showing the other side of the dynamic that sex tourism creates locally.”

The film takes its title from the initial meeting of Wells and Galla (Philbert Bruce) as he was repairing a glassbottomed boat. It shows the love that Wells, who is from Vermont, holds for Tobago and the journey she has been through on the island. Walcott said Wells was more than happy to tell her story on camera af-

A unique indigenous decoration, beaded aprons demonstrate the use of ornamentation for special cultural occasions

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA: Vincent Roth, son of Walter Roth, years earlier reported his discovery of what he

amethyst have also been uncovered, along with various other bead pieces left in various stages of completion.

While bead aprons

described as a “stoneage bead factory” on the Mahaica River; some made of clay and stones like agate, jasper and quartz.

At a well-known archaeological site called Recht-door-zee on the west bank of Demerara, stone beads of various rock material such as

were usually the only item of clothing worn by the early tribes in addition to arm and legs bands and necklaces, bead aprons in intricate designs are often worn by many tribes in Guyana today for ceremonial and celebratory purposes, and are adorned with the colourful beads woven in

a unique way.

The bead or seed apron is a covering of small glass beads or seeds of different colours and is worn by the women. The beads or seeds are strung on cotton thread and are often formed into figures that represent the flowers, fruits and animals found locally.

Before the arrival of the Europeans, glass beads were unknown to the Amerindians. Consequently, when the Europeans arrived to trade, among other

things, glass beads, the indigenous tribes considered the beads extremely rare and valuable.

The beaded aprons are usually designed to be almost square, with the upper part slightly narrower than the lower part. Fringe work, sometimes decorated with feathers, is another feature found on the aprons.

The technique used to make a bead apron involves using a bent rod tied two centimetres above its ends to a straight crosspiece. Next, a length of medi-

ter mutual friends introduced them.

Walcott said he is excited that he has been granted another opportunity for more people to see the film. It premiered at the 2015 TT Film Festival and was nominated for the Best Local Documentary Short, Best Documentary Short overall and the People's Choice Award. It was also aired at the Havana International Film Festival and was highlighted at the 2015 Tobago House of Assembly Day celebrations.

He said that in the future he wants to create a safe space for young filmmakers. “I want to empower them, provide logistical and technical support and make connections with older per-

um sized cotton string is tied to the upper part of the bent rod to form a tier. After this cotton is passed over and under both the tier and crosspiece to form the main weaving area which is divided up into several sections of four strands each.

It is on to these strands that the beads or seeds along with cotton are woven, sometimes

sons in the industry who can help them out.

“I always say I don't want to be the next Spielberg but I want to be the one who owns the camera that the next Spielberg uses.” Walcott said the film's inclusion in the Queer Caribbean strand of the CTFF was due to its pairing with another Queer Caribbean film on the basis of a shared theme of love, which is an overarching theme throughout the film, as well as that of sex tourism.

CEO of CaribbeanTales FrancesAnne Solomon said, “For the past four years, we've had a focus on queer programming to spotlight the issue of the legalisation and the legitimisation of queer identity in our cultures. Queer people have been vilified, attacked and sometimes killed and it really hasn't been addressed in our society.

With so much hate and dissension in the world, love should be promoted and encouraged as a wonderful thing.

“This year we're happy to say as part of the Queer Caribbean strand we have four feature-length films and three short films that focus on queer issues across the region in various forms.” (TT Guardian)

in intricate patterns and designs.

The Waiwai bead or seed “hip covers” or aprons for young girls are worn only after puberty.

These intricately bead aprons among many other decorative ornaments can be viewed at the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology on Main Street. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine )

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA: Local designer Natasha David, whose mother is a descendant of the Warrau tribe, ventured into designing because it helps her to stay connected with her culture and display it proudly.

Her collection, ‘Indigenous Spice’, showcases the designer’s indigenous heritage with a kaleidoscope of colours and flare for nature.

Created from several pieces of garments made of banana leaves, beads, feathers, Tibisiri, fabric and other natural materials, the collection includes dresses, bags, head bands, slippers, dolls, baskets and functional household items.

The designer noted that more needs to be done in presenting Amerindian culture, not just during Amerindian Heritage Month, but year round.

“We must be proud to display our culture, especially through clothing. This is why I will continue to design such garments because there are not many designers experimenting with the theme,” she declared. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

KINGSTON, JAMAICA: Grammywinning Jamaican music producer Supa Dups has taken the ambitious task of finding a permanent home for Caribbean music in mainstream America.

"Where reggae is concerned, it is not as big as it could be because the unity is off. As soon as we can work together, then we'll have a vibrant industry again. The industry is there, but our successes come in spurts, like a novelty, and like every couple of years you have a one song like a Cheerleader (Omi) or a Gimme Di Light (Sean Paul) come around," he told the Jamaican media.

"Mi want reggae fi be part of the mainstream music and stay that way. Mi want when the Grammy Award a show, our awards can be televised live. Mi nuh know if mi a shoot too high, but

that a just mi dream," he continued.

To fulfill that dream, the Florida-based Supa Dups organised a 'collective of creative industry people' for a four-day camp at Miami's Circle House Studios. The group comprised artistes and producers.

"The idea came about a month ago. The camp started [last] Friday and ended Wednesday. This is the first time anything like this has ever been done. It's a blend of new flavour and experience. Everybody here is my bredren," he said.

Supa Dup's 'bredrens' are a who's who of contemporary dancehall/reggae. They include producers Ward 21 and Stephen McGregor, deejay Kranium, songwriter/artiste Krishane Levy Money Can't Buy Love featuring Shaggy, 1985 (producer of Drake's Hold On), songwriter Daniel Daley (Chris Brown's

Paradise), Virgin Island's songwriter/producers Rock City (Locked Away, featuring Adam Levine), singer/songwriter Angela Hunte (writer of Party Done by Machel Montana), producer Dre Skull, DJ Buddha, American rapper/producer Verse Simmonds, Kacey Phillip (producer/ engineer for Montano) and Black Chiney's DJ/ producer Willy Chin.

"We're aiming to do about 30 songs. The plan is to use our connections to shop them to mainstream artistes... Me, Rock City and Verse have had mainstream success. Therefore, the chances of anything happening with these songs are great. I have a strong feeling it will," he said.

Supa Dups (given name Dwayne ChinQuee) is a co-founder and owner of Florida-based sound system Black Chiney. He has worked with top-shelf artistes in dancehall, R&B, and hip hop.

He has three Grammy Awards as a producer on albums by Drake (Take Care, which won for Best Rap Album); Bruno Mars (Unorthodox Jukebox which won for Best Pop Vocal Album), and Eminem (Recovery, which received a Grammy for Best Rap Album). (Jamaica Observer)

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD:

Thousands of years ago, the islands of Trinidad and Tobago were joined to South America continent. A vast continent rich in environmental treasures and a variety of ecosystems, South America is believed to have transferred some of this wealth to our islands before the time when scientists believed that the land masses that comprised our nation, broke off from the mainland. One of the continent’s main rivers, the Orinoco, feeds the waters here in Trinidad.

This, no doubt, accounts for our nation’s rich biodiversity.

Yet despite its former connection to the mainland, the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) notes that TT has many species of flora and fauna that are unique to the islands.

TT is a habitat for at least 100 mammal species, including amardillos, deer and over 60 varieties of bats. At least 70 species of reptiles and 50 species of snakes — the largest one being the anaconda — have also decided to call TT home. Of this large variety of snakes, only four are poisonous. Many of us are familiar with the brightly-coloured hibiscus, which actually originates from Asia, however, however, general info states that there are over 2,300 species of flowering shrubs on the islands, a whopping 700 of them are orchids. Our nation is also a bird watcher’s paradise with over 470 species of these winged creatures. There are many places which locals and foreigners can go, and have been, to see some of these birds. In his book, Birdwatcher’s Guide to TT, William L Murphy describes Mount St Benedict as “a fine area for observing raptors and swifts.” He adds that it is possible to see up to 225 species of birds in just two weeks on any giv-

en month of the year in TT.

With such an abundance of terrestrial gems, one would think that locals would be appreciative of the nation’s natural environment and what it can teach us about life and our own history. Unfortunately, this is not always the case and the EMA has taken steps to help protect and preserve our animal species and ecosystems from further damage or extinction. The authority has designated ten animals as Environmental Sensitive Species. These include the manatee, ocelot, pawi, leatherback turtle, the golden tree frog and the white-tailed sabrewing hummingbird.

It has also assigned the Nariva Swamp, Aripo Savannas and Matura National Park as Environmentally Sensitive Areas. Both our Caroni and Nariva Swamps are protected ecosystems under the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty among governments focused on conservation of wetlands.

Undeniably, the plethora of hiking and eco tour groups in the country is testament of the highly-diverse nature of our natural environment and its many nature trails. From caves, to waterfalls, to abundant rainforests and many more ecosystems, our nation has enough to keep any nature seeker busy year round. So this Independence- long weekend, why not hook up with some of these groups and explore some our nation’s fascinating eco places.

Don’t know where to start? Well, the Trinidad and Tobago Incoming Tour Operators have several tours on this entire weekend to various places.

You can visit their Facebook page ExperienceTT , for more information. (TT Newsday)

Tamasha: The making

Imitiaz Ali's Tamasha’s is one of the most eagerly awaited films of this year.

With this film the audiences will for the third time be treated to the sizzling chemistry of Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, after their successful 'Bachna Ae Haseeno' and 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani'. However the big question is whether they will be lucky the third time with Tamasha or not. We will allow time to do the talking. The shoot of Imtiaz's Tamashaas shoot wrapped up earlier last month. Bollywoodlife.com accreddited one of its report to a leading film magazine in which it states, producer Sajid Nadaidwala is apparently not very happy with bits shot with the leading pair Deepika and Ranbir in the exotic Corsica, France which is why he is planning to re-shoot the entire sequences

yet again, but in India! No matter how tricky it may be but as a producer, it becomes mandatory to keep a check on the production costs of a film otherwise it would might as well be sheer wastage. This is the most pertinent reason behind producer Sajid Nadiadwala wanting to re-do some scenes in the homeland to save cost. (TOI)

Arjun Kapoor to spread awareness for WWF – India

Arjun Kapoor has been the face of wildlife conservation & environmental awareness as brand ambassador of WWFIndia for 2 years now. Committing to his role, he has spoken in favour of conservation and reducing energy consumption as well as personally made greener choices.

Taking his engagement with the NGO forward, Arjun will attend a gala dinner, co-hosted by Indian industry's tycoon Jamshyd Godrej. In

India, he will highlight the urgent need for each one of us to focus on environmental conservation.

As face of WWFIndia, Arjun has made special efforts to draw at-

tention for conservation in the Sundarbans. His participation has driven more interest from youth across India for projects of this international organization. During this gala dinner that hopes to raise resources and awareness for WWFIndia, Arjun will talk about his personal reasons for associating with WWF- India. He has spoken in favor of everyone reducing how much power and water they consume by just taking small measures. (TOI)

Rani Mukerji expecting in January 2016!

RAli Fazal has signed yet another international project

It's heard that Ali will be soon seen in an Indo- China project.

Post Furious 7 Ali seems to

have developed his share of liking with the international audiences.

Details of the project are kept under wraps however we have heard that the film will be shot partially in India and partially in other Asian countries including China. It's a romantic cum drama track where in Ali will be playing a character role.

This film is a part of historical move considering the relations between the two countries.

The development of this project was so quick that Ali will start shooting as early as end of next week. (TOI)

Sonakshi Sinha 'breaks her own record

Actress Sonakshi Sinha, who is currently shooting for her film "Akira", says she has broken her own record by reaching the set very early.

The "Dabangg" actress, who is also judging the TV show "Indian Idol Junior" took to Twitter and seemed ecstatic as she reached the set 20 minutes early when nobody was present.

"Breaking my own records! Was up to reach shoot at 7:30 and here I am 20 minutes earlier. Not another soul on set. Reached Thane in 30 minutes," Sonakshi tweeted on Tuesday.

Being produced by Fox Star Studios, "Akira" is a thriller directed by A.R. Murugadoss.

The film is the Hindi remake of

2011 Tamil hit "Mounaguru" and also stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Anurag Kashyap and Shatrughan Sinha.

"Akira" marks Murugadoss's third Hindi venture after back-to-back hits "Ghajini" and "Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty" (TOI)

Hrithik yet to decide on "Aashiqui 3"

ani Mukerji, who is already booked on family time, is pregnant and overseas with hubby, reports Mumbai Mirror. Over the past few weeks, rumour mills have been buzzing overtime with the news that the stork has visited Rani, who tied the knot with filmmaker Aditya Chopra on April 21, 2014, in an extremely private ceremony in Italy. Rani, who has always been guarded about her personal life, refused to comment on the pregnancy. However, Mirror reports that the actress is in her second trimester and the baby is due in January. Rani's sister-in-law, Jyoti Mukerji, a popular TV actress, accidentally confirmed the news saying, "Yes, Rani is pregnant."

A source close to the actress revealed that she is presently travelling with Aditya. The couple took off to London at the end of July and Rani was spotted by a fan at a spa getting a pre-natal massage. "They returned to India last week after travelling in the UK for over a month but have taken off again, no one knows where," added the source. Since, UK seems to be a frequent getaway, will the baby be born in the Queen's City? "No, the delivery will take place in Mumbai," the source asserted. (TOI)

Sanjay Gupta shoots for 'Jazbaa' promotional video

Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta, who is currently waiting for the release of his forthcoming film "Jazbaa" starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Irrfan Khan, says that he is shooting the first promotional video for the film. The "excited" filmmaker took to Twitter to share the news.

"Off to shoot! Very exciting day as we shoot the first promotional video for #JAZBAA. I love shooting songs," Gupta tweeted.

In the film, Aishwarya is seen essaying the role of a lawyer named Anuradha Verma and Irrfan will be seen playing the role of a suspended cop. Produced by Essel Vision, White Feather Films and Viking

Entertainment, the film also has established actors Atul Kulkarni, Jackie Shroff, Chandan Roy Sanyal and Shabana Azmi along with Aishwarya. "Jazbaa" is slated to release on October 9. (TOI)

Actor Hrithik Roshan says he is yet to take a call on "Aashiqui 3".

"What 'Aashiqui 3'? You want me to do it. I will think about it," the actor said.

When producer Bhushan Kumar was asked if "Aashiqui 3" has been finalised, Hrithik interrupted saying, "I

Anew son is shining on the horizon and his name is Karan Kapadia. Dimple Kapadia's nephew (her late sister Simple's son) and Twinkle Khanna's favourite cousin is getting himself ready for the movies, reports Mumbai Mirror. Kapadia is now 21, gymtoned, angeltattooed and, yes, gorgeous. He has previously assisted director Rahul Dholakia on a film albeit briefly, the report stated. He is a major football

loved him as a producer. I myself have gone to him and said you have to produce a film for me... So, let him think. Give him sometime."

Hrithik and Sonam Kapoor have recreated the popular track "Dheere Dheere" from Mahesh Bhatt's 1990 blockbuster "Aashiqui". The single was released on Tuesday. Starring Sonam and Hrithik, the song is a tribute to T-Series' late honcho Gulshan Kumar. Meanwhile, gossip mills are also abuzz that Hrithik would be paired opposite Deepika Padukone in Yash Raj Films' next. The film will be directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya. To this, Hrithik said, "A little bit true... But can't tell you which part of it is true."

Regarding rumours of a sequel to his film "Bang Bang" with Siddharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandes, the actor said, "I don't know why they did not take me... Ask them." (TOI)

The first trailer of Will Smith-starrer "Concussion" is out.

Directed by Peter Landesman, the film also stars Albert Brooks and Alec Baldwin, said the Hollywood Reporter.

The sports drama tells the controversial story of the doctors who proved the link between former NFL players affected by major neurological problems due to head injuries suffered during their careers and the NFL's de-

nials of any such connection.

Concussion follows the story of Dr Bennet Omalu (Will Smith) who - after studying the brains of ex-pros such as Dave Duerson (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Andre Waters (Richard T. Jones) - discovers that they were suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neuro-degenerative disease caused by repeated trauma to the head. (TOI )

Emma Roberts and Evan Peters back together

American Horror Story co-stars Emma Roberts and Evan Peters may have broken off their engagement a few months ago, but the two stars have reportedly reconciled.

The pair was spotted in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, over the weekend, which confirmed the dating rumours. They will next be seen together in the fifth installment of "American Horror Story." (TOI)

Trailer for "Pay the Ghost" unveiled

The first trailer of supernatural horror film "Pay the Ghost" has arrived. Actor Nicolas Cage stars as Mike Cole, a father who is desperate to save his loved one following an unexpected tragedy.

In the trailer of the film, Cole has a great time with his son Charlie (Jack Fulton) at a Halloween parade in New York City before Charlie mysteriously disappears from his side, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Following the event, Cole is haunted by terrifying visions of his son and begins to sense his presence. It turns out that Charlie is abducted and taken away by evil forces to another realm and he is not the only child who disappears. Cole reunites with his estranged wife Kristen

and together they uncover a string of terrifying clues while searching for their son. They must save their son as soon as possible or he will be lost to the spirit world forever.

"When your worst fear comes to life, will you go to save everything you love?" reads the tagline in the trailer.

Other cast members are Sarah Wayne Callies, Veronica Ferres, Lyriq Bent, Alex Mallari Jr. and Sofia Wells.

Uli Edel directs the movie which will have a limited release in the US on September 15. (TOI)

Nicholas Hoult to play J D Salinger in new biopic

"X-Men" star Nicholas Hoult will portray beloved American author J D Salinger in the upcoming biopic "Rebel In The Rye".

The film will chronicle the acclaimed writer's life as he begins his most famous novel, 'The Catcher in the Rye'. It will follow Salinger's rise to success, as well as his subsequent life of seclusion, reported Variety Online.

Rebel in the Rye is based on author Kenneth

Slawenski's biography, "J D Salinger: A Life" and the script is being adapted for the screen by Golden Globe winner Danny Strong.

The project will also mark Strong's directorial film debut. He previously directed an episode of hit US hip-hop series Empire, which he co-created with Lee Daniels.

The movie's producers are expected to introduce the film to foreign buyers at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival. (TOI)

Matt Damon’s Bourne 5 set in austerity riddled Europe

Matt Damon has recently revealed that the new edition of the Bourne series will be set in an 'austerity-riddled Europe' and a 'postSnowden world'. Damon will reprise his role of Jason Bourne in the fifth installment of the franchise, after 2007.

While speaking to a website, Matt said, his new film will take into ac-

count world happenings since then. "Without giving too much of it away,

it's Bourne through an austerity-riddled Europe and in a post-Snowden world. It seems like enough has changed. There are all these kinds of arguments about spying and civil liberties and the nature of democracy. We're starting in Greece, you know, the beginning of democracy. And the movie ends in Las Vegas," he added. (TOI)

Daniel Craig influences James Bond scripts

James Bond actor Daniel Craig likes to get as involved as he can with the scripts for his iconic character.

The 47-year-old actor - who is about to return to the big screen for the new Bond movie Spectre - said he likes to have some input into the writing, even if he ends up upsetting some people in the process.

When asked how involved he gets with the scripts, Craig said, "As much as I possibly can without treading on toes, although you have to offend some people sometimes to move on."

Craig explained that when he was first offered the part of the iconic se-

cret agent in 2005, he was determined to make the role his own by adding his own jokes. (TOI)

Shia Labeouf sparks split rumours from Mia Goth

Actor Shia LaBeouf has been spotted hand-in-hand with a mystery woman, sparking speculation that he has split from Mia Goth.

The Fury actor, who hasn't been seen with his 22-year-old girlfriend since their argument in Germany last month, was seen holding hands with a young dread-

locked brunette, reported People magazine.

The pair appeared cosy as they had lunch together in Sherman Oaks, California.

The sighting appears to suggest Labeouf, 29, has split from actress Mia following their heated altercation in Tubingen, Germany, in July, when the Transformers star was overheard saying he would've "killed" his partner.

The pair were filmed having an argument on the street and footage shows him telling locals he was afraid of what he might have done had he not walked away. (TOI)

Chris Brown hit with lawsuit over nightclub shooting

cient security and that he is now permanently injured as a result.

In Briley's claim, he states that since Brown had multiple violent incidents at shows before that San Jose concert, he should have had more security that night.

Last August, Brown hosted a preVMA party where four people were shot, including Death Row Records founder Suge Knight. More recently, Brown attended a party in Houston where two people were shot, but he was not present at the time of the shooting. The January 11 shooting at San Jose's Fiesta Nightclub, resulted in a 60-day suspension of the club's liquor license. (TOI)

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA:

Wanting to showcase the vibrancy of her heritage without offending anyone, Native American fashion designer Bethany Yellowtail launched a collection of “appropriate” wear.

Headdresses and knock-off Native American patterns on runways have been controversial in the fashion industry.

Karlie Kloss’ Native Americanstyle headdress caused an outcry at the 2012 Victoria Secret Fashion Show — the brand would later apologize and pull the outfit from the broadcast.

H&M stopped selling its “hip ster” Native American-inspired headdresses after customer com plaints in 2013, and rapper Pharrell Williams was forced to apologize after wearing a war bonnet on the cov er of Elle UK Magazine in 2014.

Below are some of Yellowtail’s recent of ferings. These can also guide you on what ap propriate fashion trends inspired by Native American patterns to choose. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

TT-born limbo queen sets new low

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD: The

World’s Limbo Queen, Trinidad-born Shemika Charles, 22, is hopeful that one day she will have her very own Limbo school where she will be more than happy to teach the art form.

Charles, who now lives in Buffalo, New York, lived in Maraval before she migrated to the United States with her family at the age of six.

Charles’ mother, Sherrie, left TT to join the family’s band Caribbean Extravaganza, as a lead singer and limbo dancer.

Caribbean Extravaganza is owned and managed by Paul Ferrette and Robert Diaz, both sons on the late Cyril Diaz. They toured Korea and the Middle East for about six years. It was just a few years after they returned that Charles began her training for her limbo career.

“I began my limbo training at the age of 14 when our family steelband got an offer to perform at the Florida State Fair in 2006. My mother was once a limbo dancer in our band for 16 years but retired from limbo dancing shortly before we received the offer.

There is where I did my very first performance just six weeks after I began my training. I have been a part of our family band as a singer, keyboard player and as the featured limbo dancer traveling and performing all over the US ever since,” Charles told the TT media in a recent interview.

Being a professional Limbo dancer for the past nine years, Charles said she went through vigorous training to reach that professional status and setting the Guinness World Record.

“I trained for six hours a day for about four years to set my Guinness World record. After I set my record I continued to stretch and do my limbo exercises that were created by my trainer Robert Diaz to maintain my form and condition. I successfully accomplished another world record, limboing under a SUV earlier this year,” Charles said.

She disclosed that she is returning to the training camps in a bid to set another Guinness World Record, this time to be the first person to limbo under two SUV’s.

“The video of me limboing under my SUV has gone viral. I received over

one million views in less than a week on YouTube and going on two million view on the video posted on Facebook.

It takes a lot of concentration, balance, breathe control, experience, maintenance of my training and the love and passion I have for what I do to be able to be the limbo dancer I am today, limboing under 8.5 inches above the floor and much more,” Charles said.

“Limbo dancing to me has absolutely no limit. I want to put limbo on another level, and be the best limbo dancer ever. I have done some cool things and have limbo danced some weird places. I have limbo danced under airport seats, I have limbo danced on a plane at 35,000 ft in the air, In Niagara Falls, with a Live snake on Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles, NBA halftime shows, under an SUV etc. I want to be the first person to come to mind when the word “limbo” is mentioned. I plan on doing so by setting new lows and unbreakable records. This is truly a passion of mine and I am determined to make a name for myself as well as my country,” she proudly added.

Charles set her world record in 2010 on Live! with Regis and Kelly and is featured on page 99 in the 2012 Guinness Book of World Records.

“I definitely plan on breaking my own record in the near future as well as setting a few more,” she said.

Charles was on America’s Got Talent, the Wendy Williams show, the Bill Cunningham Show and Guinness World Records Unleashed. She was featured on just about every news channel in Buffalo, the Today Show and many shows around the world.

She recently toured around the US performing at the NBA halftime shows along with her mother, Sherrie.

She was even given her own day in Buffalo by the Mayor Byron

Brown, shortly after receiving her record, “he proclaimed October 8 as Shemika Charles Day in 2010. I was given a Black Achiever Award in 2013, for my accomplishments. This award is given to individuals who have a positive impact on our community. I was the youngest female to ever receive this award thus far.”

Charles anticipates returning to TT soon. “I absolutely cannot wait to come home. I miss TT so much and I am really looking forward to my return hopefully in the near future,” Charles said.

Charles said she is open to teaching the art of the Limbo Dance: “seeing that it is a very complex form of dance, it would take a lot to create a strategy to teach just about anyone who

has interest in learning the art of limbo. Even then it is a bit complicated because everyone is not born with the ability to bend that way. So the real brain work will come when it comes to selecting my limbo dancers to teach. But it is something the world’s limbo queen is very excited about and it would be great to have my very own limbo school one day.

“Seeing that limbo dancing originated in TT, it is only right we hold the Guinness World Record and it is my absolute pleasure to be the one representing my country. I hope to inspire others, especially the youths, to follow their dreams no matter what it may be. Be dedicated, work hard and never give up!” she added. (TT Guardian)

GEORGETOWN,GUYANA: Pamela Landing is a river port near the town of Mahdia, on the Potaro River (Region Seven). The landing is essentially a few small shops near a boat landing, one of which is perched on a bluff overlooking the river.

On a journey to the Kaieteur Falls, Pamela Landing is one of the exciting stops. From the landing, the view of the Potaro River is breathtaking.

A boat ride from the landing along the Potaro River, paved by the Ayanganna Mountains,takes tourists to the scenic Amatuk Falls.

Pamela Landing is a pathway to outback Guyana, where adventures await. (Photos by https://lteem. files.wordpress.com)

clarks in Jamaica to be in launched in october

KINGSTON, JAMAICA:

The Jamaican dancehall's decadeslong link with Clarks footwear steps up front on Clarks in Jamaica, a 21-song compilation scheduled for release in October by VP/ Greensleeves Records.

It contains songs by artistes either paying tribute to the British shoe, or referring to it. These songs include Clarks Booty Skank by Trinity, Dillinger's CB200, Super Cat's Trash and Ready and Clarks Booty by Little John who has three songs on the set.

Chris O'Brien, artiste and repertoire manager at VP/Greensleeves in London, said Clarks in Jamaica is the music version to the book of the same name by British writer Al 'DJ Al Fingers' Newman.

Along with noted reggae producer Bunny Lee, Newman was part of the August 14 'Clarks in Jamaica' lecture at Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

A similar 'conference' is scheduled for the University of Nottingham in October as part of promotion for the album.

Officially established as C & J Clark International Ltd in 1825, it is one of the world's oldest shoe manufacturers. Jamaicans who migrated in droves to the United Kingdom during the 1950s travelled to its headquarters in Somerset, south-west England, to purchase the durable shoe, starting a bond that still exists.

While Clarks were once identified with the 'roots man' and hardcore 'steppers' in Jamaica, deejay Vybz Kartel's 2010 smash hit, Clarks, helped push it mainstream. When Britain's Prince Harry visited Jamaica in 2012, he sported custommade blue Desert Clarks. The Clarks company recently used 'foundation' deejay Jah Stitch to endorse some of their products. (Jamaica Observer)

Jamaica finish with historic 7 gold medals for second position

BEIJING,

CHINA: A stunning victory in the women's mile-relay gave Jamaica a record seventh gold medal and secured second spot in the medals table ahead of the USA and behind Kenya as the 15th IAAF World Championships concluded on Sunday.

Jamaica with seven gold, two silver and three bronze finished the championship with 12 medals and was just one short of their record tally of 13 achieved in Berlin, 2009.

Kenya, also with seven gold, finished top courtesy of a larger medal haul of 16, while the USA finished third with six gold, six silver and six bronze for a total of 18 medals.

Jamaica's medal haul is an improvement from two years ago in Moscow, Russia, and team manager, Ludlow Watt, was more than pleased with the performance.

"The team performed extremely well and that is good for the mood of the country and the development of track and field," said Watt, moments after guiding his winning girls through the press conference.

TT, J’ca fly Caribbean flag high in Beijing

But overall the balance has been good," he noted.

He edged fierce rival Justin Gatlin in the 100m winning in 9.79 seconds to Gatlin's 9.80s in arguably his best and most satisfying race. Then he returned and won his pet event by a much wider margin, stopping the clock at 19.55 seconds easing down. Bolt then completed his three timer anchoring Jamaica's 4x100m team in a time of 37.36 seconds.

Shelly-Ann FraserPryce grabbed two gold in the 100m and 4x100m relay, while Danielle Williams snatched the 100m hurdles gold and the women's 4x400m relay capped a great championship for Jamaica.

"If you look at the comments by the 100m hurdler when she said her aim was just to get into the final, and that could perhaps be one that is summed up as least expected. But they all did well and we expected everyone to do well," said Watts.

"There will be disappointment in every championship, but I will not take it as any major serious matter because in every championship in every event there is a success story and always people who fall below.

Once again the incomparable Usain Bolt was at the forefront propelling Jamaica forward with another triple gold performance. He defended his 100m, 200m and 4x100m crowns.

Debutant Elaine Thompson sizzled to a 21.66 seconds clocking in the 200m and reaped a silver, while Hansle Parchment copped silver in the 110m hurdles with 13.03 seconds.

Veteran Veronica Campbell-Brown turned back the clock and won a bronze in the 200m with a seasonal best 21.97, while Shericka Jackson showed that she has arrived with a scintillating 49.99, personal best, for third in the women's 400m.

Shot putter O'Dayne Richards won Jamaica's first shot put medal, equalling his national record of 21.69m for bronze.

With all this in mind, Watts reinforced the importance of the training camp saying it built team camaraderie and spirit.

"Anybody who did not agree with it is exhibiting poor judgement and not befitting somebody who is worthy of improving Jamaica's track and field," said Watt.

"The camp was extremely successful from the point of view of the athletes and, the coaches. Training preparation, camaraderie and this has manifested in the success of the team," he noted.

BEIJING,

CHINA: Jamaica picked up a third relay gold in world-leading time as the Caribbean finished among the medals on the final day of competition to conclude a successful IAAF World Championships on Sunday.

The 4x100 metres quartet of Christine Day, Shericka Jackson, Stephenie Ann McPherson and Novlene Williams-Mills ran a world leading time of three minutes, 19.13 seconds to add a third relay gold medal following victories in the sprint relays on Saturday.

Running the anchor leg, Novlene WilliamsMills saved the best for last and cruised past American Francena McCorory in the last 20 metres to give Jamaica gold.

The United States finished second in a time of 3:19.44 and Great

Britain took home the bronze in 3:23.62.

“These girls, they did it all the way. That is when you have the heart of a champion, that is what you do,” WilliamsMills said on passing McCorory near the finish line.

And it was all about TT and the United States in the men’s version with the experienced American LaShawn Merritt holding off a challenge from Machel Cedenio to deny the Caribbean nation victory.

Renny Quow ran an opening split time of 43.23 seconds which set the scene for Trinidad and Tobago with Lalonde Gordon clocking 45.68 on the second leg and Deon Lendore, 44.75 on the third.

Cedenio then challenged Merritt to the end in timing 44.16.

The Americans completed the 400m relay in

a world leading time of 2:57.82 with TT finishing in a new national record time of 2:38.20 and Great Britain clocking a season best of 2:58.51. In the only other event with Caribbean participation, Donald Thomas cleared 2.29 metres for sixth in the men’s high jump. His compatriot Trevor Barry was tenth with 2.25m. Canada’s Derek Drouin (2.34m) won a jump-off with Bohdan Bondarenko of Ukraine and Guowei Zhang of China (2.33m) for the gold medal.

Kenya topped the medal table with seven gold for a total of 16 medals with Jamaica also finishing on seven gold but 12 medals. United States finished with 18 medals but only six gold.

The next IAAF World Championships will be held in London in 2017. (CMC)

30 sport

Ja’s Hector seals Chelsea deal GTTA “Teach Them Young” Summer Camp concludes

PARIS, FRANCE

– Jose Mourinho has paid a reported £4 million for Reading defender Michael Hector to join English Premier League champions Chelsea.

The 23-year-old centre-back has signed a five-year contract with Chelsea, but will return to Reading and spend the remainder of this season on loan with the

Championship club.

London-born Hector, a boyhood Chelsea supporter, made 49 appearances for Reading in all competitions last season and helped Steve Clarke's team reach the FA Cup semi-finals. He has represented Jamaica at international level and started all three of their matches at this year's Copa America. (AFP)

GEORGETOWN,

GUYANA: The Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) in conjunction with the Ministry of Education-Department of Culture, Youth and Sport/National Sports Commission (NSC) concluded their “Teach Them Young” Summer Camp last Thursday at the National Gymnasium.President of the GTTA, Godfrey Munroe highlighted that the sessions catered not only table tennis devel-

opment but life skills as well as describing it as success.

Munroe also noted that the coaches of the camp worked tirelessly for the past seven weeks while encouraging the players to practice what they have learned at the camp.

Gervy Harry, Administration Officer of the NSC, praised the work of the coaches who played a pivotal role in the camp and urged the participants to be ambassadors of Guyana.

Ministry of Education Department of Culture, Youth & Sports PE Instructor

Seon Erskine, who represented the Director of Sports Christopher Jones, told the youngsters that not having the right attitude can rob them of a place on teams despite how much talent they have.

Erskine pleaded with the players to not waste the knowledge and to always believe that sports is apart of life as much as academics.

“Those people who say that don’t know the true benefits of sports. Don’t forsake your education but try to be a balanced person by getting involved in sports.” He noted 62 players registered for the camp, with 90% receiving the Ministry of Education, Department of Culture, Youth & Sport, National Sports Commission Certification of Participation and GTTA Certification of Achievement Bronze Award. (Guyana Times)

T&TCB president: Bravo’s award well deserved

PORT-OFSPAIN, TRINIDAD:

The T&T Cricket Board (T&TCB) has congratulated Dwayne Bravo on being awarded the Humming Bird Medal (Gold) for his outstanding contribution to the game of cricket. Earlier this year, Bravo led TT’s Red Steel to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL)

regional T20 title in front of his home crowd at the Queen’s Park Oval, Portof-Spain.

On Monday, president of the T&TCB, Azim Bassarath, said that honour given to Bravo was well-deserved and will help to motivate other young cricketers to work hard and establish themselves. Bassarath said Bravo’s talent and

drive for success was noted since he was a youngster, having represented TT at cricket at the Under-15 and Under-19 levels before playing for the senior national team and eventually being elevated to captain.

The local cricket chief said Bravo’s leadership qualities and vital contribution to the team with both bat and ball,

were also highlighted by his spectacular fielding which did not go unnoticed by the regional selectors.

“It was just a matter of time before he was handed the captain’s armband for the West Indies 50-overs team, and was one of three TT captains of West Indies teams which also included Denesh Ramdin (Test) and Merissa Aguilleria (Women), all in one calendar year,” said Bassarath.

The T&TCB president also paid tribute to Bravo’s multi-talented persona as an entertaining performing artiste, having recently recorded a cross-over chutney hit with Nisha B which was launched both in TT and in India, and adopted by the Chennai Super Kings for which he plays in the Indian Premier League. He also signed a recording contract with a Los Angeles, USA-based label.

Bravo also has a long-standing relationship with Jamaican dance hall music artiste Beenie Man with whom he has performed and whom he credits for encouraging him to further his latent musical talent. Bassarath also took the opportunity to congratulate the national

men’s 4X400 and women’s 4X100 metres relay teams which earned silver and bronze medals respectively at the IAAF World Athletic Championships which ended on Sunday in Beijing, China.

The TT quartet of Renny Quow, La Londe Gordon, Deon Lendore and Machel Cedenio pulled out all the stops in the iconic Bird’s Nest Stadium on a rainy night to grab silver behind the USA in a new national record. Bassarath said he was thrilled on hearing the comments of Gordon, who said after the race that the team was motivated by the expectation of the TT pub-

lic which pushed them to their best performance yet.

“It was a commitment and focus that produced a world class performance in difficult conditions which showed that these young men are conscious of their responsibilities to the public of TT who have invested much in them, which they have repaid big time,” said Bassarath. He noted that it was the first time that the women were medalling in the relay at the games and the team of Kelly Ann Baptiste, Michelle Lee Ahye, Reyare Thomas and Semoy Hackett deserved the best commendations. (TT Guardian)

Boxing World Cup coming to Trinidad 5 bronze medals for Guyana at CAREBACO Individual Championships

PORT-OFSPAIN,

TRINIDAD: This announcement was made at a media conference at Alicia’s Guest House, St Ann’s.

TT BBC chairman Annabelle Davis, who noted that the MOU was made on Saturday in Los Angeles, United States, revealed, “(it) allows us to facilitate the launch of the WBC Amateur and the WBC Youth Professional League, not just (here) in Trinidad and Tobago, which we’re now forming the cornerstone, but in the (Caribbean) region as well.” About Potts’ new role, Davis said, “(he) has been asked by the WBC to work as a consultant in the region.”

Potts, who was also a known boxing matchmaker, commented, “Trinidad and Tobago would have the first ever WBC Youth Amateur Pro League convention.

It’s going to be launched (here) in Trinidad and Tobago and the first ever World Cup will be held (here) in Trinidad and Tobago within a year.”

For his critics, he said, “I want to thank all the naysayers, the doubters for promoting me over the years. So

Narine

Pnow that the WBC has recognised that the most knowledgeable (boxing) person in the region is Boxu Potts. I want to thank all of you for empowering and enriching me.” Returning to the initiative, Potts pointed out, “this programme will speak volumes to the boxing world. People can feel comfortable to come and watch good old-school boxing rather than the watered- down techniques that AIBA (Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur) tried to implement through the Cuban system.”

Davis also bemoaned the diminished numbers of boxing promoters, as well as the dying breed of professional pugilists, in the twin-island republic.She pointed out she has been mandated by the TT BBC directors to develop initiatives, including a local amateur league (for boxers under the age of 16) through community boxing programmes, that will serve as a nursery for the future breed of local professional fighters. Also speaking at the launch was former national light-heavyweight boxer Kirt Sinnette, who is a member of the TT BBC. (TT Newsday)

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA:

Guyana’s fourmember team secured five bronze medals at the recently-concluded Caribbean Regional Badminton Confederation (CAREBACO) Individual Championships, held at Club Los Prados, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Priyanna Ramdhani who competed in the Girls’ Under-15 Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles won bronze in all three events.

not ready for Test return

ORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD:

West Indies coach Phil Simmons has confirmed he is in a much clearer position over the status of high profile players Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons and Andre Russell, regarding their availability to play Test cricket and other formats for the Caribbean side going forward.

Simmons was giving an update on his talks with the aforementioned players after revealing exclusively to Newsday his plans to do so in May.

Since Simmons made that revelation, players such as Bravo and Simmons’ nephew Lendl have confirmed in the media that they don’t want to play Tests because of the pay structure in the new MOU/ CBA that was signed by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and West Indies Players Association (WIPA). Russell also stated he can’t play the longer format because of a persistent knee problem.

“I have had good discussions speaking with all the players. Yes, Bravo and Lendl said they don’t want to play Tests for reasons you mentioned, but I’m happy that they were honest about that,” said Simmons.

“Speaking with Narine during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), he still wants to be 100 percent confident about the consistency of his action before returning to Test cricket. He noted he is happy with the improvement (of) his action during CPL and is available for West Indies in the limited overs section at present.” Narine, with just six Tests under his belt, last wore white clothing for the West Indies two years ago vs New Zealand.

Referring to Russell he explained: “Russell has a longstanding knee problem which certainly limits his ability to play the longest format.

Given that he and selectors won’t have the all-rounders Bravo and Russell available for Tests for the stated reasons, Simmons was asked

if he subscribes to the theory that has been mooted that Jason Holder could take up that role, based on his recent batting exploits.

And on the duo of Gayle and Pollard? “Pollard wants to play cricket for the West Indies - that he made clear to me, but we haven’t gone into whether it’s Test specific.

Gayle noted once he recovers well from his back surgery he is also available for all formats.” Having spoken to those players during the CPL, Simmons, who played 26 Tests and 143 one-day internationals for the West Indies from 1988-1999, concluded by giving his thoughts on his first experience observing the T20 league.

“The tournament (CPL) is good, but not enough of young West Indian players came to the fore. Just the established stars and the overseas players and as coach I would have liked to see more from the young players. I hope that improves in next year’s competition. (TT Newsday)

Tyrese Jeffrey won bronze in the Under-15 Mixed Doubles, while Guyana’s leading player, Narayan Ramdhani who competed in the Boys Under-19 also took bronze.

Here are the quarter and semi-final results: Under-19 Boys’ Singles: Narayan Ramdhani defeated Palmer Shaquille (Jamaica) 21-14, 21-16.

Under-19 Boys’ Doubles: Narayan Ramdhani and Jonathan Mangra lost to Joel Angus and Palmer

Shaquille (Jamaica) 1621, 19-21.

Under-19 Mixed Doubles: Narayan Ramdhani (Guyana) and Anjali Paragsingh (Trinidad) lost to Argenis Marinez and Arisleyda Frias (Dominican Republic) 14-21, 17-21.

Under-15 Girls’ Singles: Priyanna Ramdhani defeated Mileiki Acosta (Dominican Republic) 21-18, 13-21, 16-21.

Under-15 Mixed Doubles: Priyanna Ramdhani and Tyrese Jeffrey defeated Jaison

Marte and Kaina Lucero (Dominican Republic) 21-13, 21-11.

Under-15 Boys’ Doubles: Tyrese Jeffrey (Guyana) and Samuel Rosado (Dominican Republic) lost to Daniel Acosta and Edison Ramirez (Dominican Republic) 6-21, 7-21.

Semi-Finals Matches:

Under-19 Boys’ Singles: Narayan Ramdhani lost to No 1 Seed Soren Opti (Suriname) 16-21, 15-21.

Under-15 Girls’ Singles: Priyanna Ramdhani lost to Lisbeth Ortiz (Dominican Republic) 15-21, 8-21.

Under-15 Girls’ Doubles: Priyanna Ramdhani (Guyana) and Erisa Bleau (Suriname) lost to Lisbeth Ortiz and Mileiki Acosta (Dominican Republic) 12-21, 12-21.

Under-15 Mixed Doubles: Priyanna Ramdhani and Tyrese Jeffrey lost to Daniel Acosta and Lisbeth Ortiz (Dominican Republic) 14-21, 17-21.

The seven competing countries were the hosts Dominican Republic, Barbados, Panama, Trinidad, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Guyana. (Guyana Times)

INTERNATIONAL

By RavendRa Madholall

TORONTO, CANADA:

Alluding to the fact they have been dominant in the Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Club (OMSCC) Over40, 20-over competition for the past three consecutive years, Our Own Sports Club (OOSC) is confident of transforming that status to the upcoming Toronto Cup.

With a plethora of seasoned campaigners in their line-up, skipper Mahendranauth Parasnauth is highly optimistic his team will emerge as the champion in the veteran category when the action bowls off

on Friday.

A stalwart of the game, Parasnauth stated that despite this will be a gigantic softball occasion for the first time in Canada, he is hoping that the players will continue with the same degree of commitment and enthusiasm to churn out good performances.

Sunil Dhaniram, Troy Gobin, Shiv Seeram, Desmond Chumney, Jaimini Singh, Orin O’Neil and Parasnauth among others are the imposing players to represent the experienced side, and according to the versatile all-rounder, they are capable of making a great impact because of their superb abilities.

“I think we have a good team to lift the trophy, I know it is ‘not’ about big names on paper, you have got to go out there and play competitive cricket from day one,” Parasnauth mentioned.

He is already harbouring thoughts that several teams vying for supremacy have the same intention of dominating and they have a great reputation too in this category, so expectations of tough competition are extremely high.

Parasnauth, who featured for Demerara at Inter-county softball tournament on numerous occasions in his native country Guyana, feels

since the commencement of their preparations for the this three-day tournament, it has been fantastic and the camaraderie in the camp is also terrific.

They will remain focused with diligent prac-

tice sessions and get themselves equipped for this showpiece cognizant of their triumphantly motivated team.

Meanwhile, Parasnauth not only focusing on the game, he has voluntarily been working with the OMSCC, the tournament’s host as a foreignteam coordinator and pointed-out that things have shaped up wonderfully so far to have this Mini Softball World Cup on show.

He related that he and the other members are working tirelessly to run off the tournament which is set to attract 14 teams for both the Over40 and Open categories.

Matches are slated to be played in Scarborough with the first-round schedules at Ellesmere facility, while an opening ceremony is billed for Thursday at Tropical Business Place, also in Scarborough from 19:00h.

Teams in the Masters are: Guyana Floodlights (two teams), New York, Tri-State Master, Our Own, Masters XI and New York Muslim Softball Cricket Association.

Teams taking part in the Open are: New York, New York Enforcers, Caribbean Sensation, Ontario Softball Cricket League, Dant Cricket Club and Masters/Cove Sports Club.